Allard, Marie

Allard, Marie (14 August 1742, Marseilles; 11 January 1802, Paris), danseuse, served her apprenticeship as a mere child in the theatres of her native city and Lyon before arriving in Paris in 1756 at age 14 to fill an engagement at the Comédie-Française. She contrived to find a wealthy lover without delay and moved into an apartment in the rue Saint-Honoré, where she became the mistress of the duke de Richelieu. After gaining the protection of a man wealthy and powerful enough to help her…