Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z. Anatole Cerfberr
without dowries, and thus save his entire fortune for his son, the Comte de Casteran. [Beatrix.] A Comte de Casteran, son-in-law of the Marquis of Troisville, relative of Mme. de Montcornet, was prefect of a department of Burgundy between 1820 and 1825. [The Peasantry.]
CATANEO (Duke), noble Sicilian, born in 1773; first husband of Massimilla Doni. Physically ruined by early debaucheries, he was a husband only in name, living only by and through the influence of music. Very wealthy, he had educated Clara Tinti, discovered by him when still a child and a simple tavern servant. The young girl became, thanks to him, the celebrated prima donna of the Fenice theatre, at Venice in 1820. The wonderful tenor Genovese, of the same theatre, was also a protege of Duke Cataneo, who paid him a high salary to sing only with La Tinti. The Duke Cataneo cut a sorry figure. [Massimilla Doni.]
CATANEO (Duchess), nee Massimilla Doni, wife of the preceding; married later to Emilio Memmi, Prince de Varese. (See Princesse de Varese.)
CATHERINE, an old woman in the service of M. and Mme. Saillard, in 1824. [The Government Clerks.]
CATHERINE, chambermaid and foster sister of Laurence de Cinq-Cygne in 1803. A handsome girl of nineteen. According to Gothard, Catherine was in all her mistress' secrets and furthered all her schemes. [The Gondreville Mystery.]
CAVALIER, Fendant's partner; both were book-collectors, publishers and venders in Paris, on rue Serpente in 1821. Cavalier traveled for the house, whose firm name appeared as "Fendant and Cavalier." The two associates failed shortly after having published, without success, the famous romance of Lucien de Rubempre, "The Archer of Charles IX.," which title they had changed for one more fantastic. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] In 1838, a firm of Cavalier published "The Spirit of Modern Law" by Baron Bourlac, sharing the profits with the author. [The Seamy Side of History.]
CAYRON, of Languedoc, a vender of parasols, umbrellas and canes, on rue Saint-Honore in a house adjacent to that inhabited by Birotteau the perfumer in 1818. With the consent of the landlord, Molineux, Cayron sublet two apartments over his shop to his neighbor. He fared badly in business, suddenly disappearing a short time after the grand ball given by Birotteau. Cayron admired Birotteau. [Cesar Birotteau.]
CELESTIN, valet de chambre of Lucien de Rubempre, on the Malaquais quai, in the closing years of the reign of Charles X. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
CERIZET, orphan from the Foundling Hospital, Paris; born in 1802; an apprentice of the celebrated printers Didot, at whose office he was noticed by David Sechard, who took him to Angouleme and employed him in his own shop, where Cerizet performed triple duties of form-maker, compositor and proof-reader. Presently he betrayed his master, and by leaguing with the Cointet Brothers, rivals of David Sechard, he obtained possession of his property. [Lost Illusions.] Following this he was an actor in the provinces; managed a Liberal paper during the Restoration; was sub-prefect at the beginning of the reign of Louis Philippe; and finally was a "man of business." In the latter capacity he was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for swindling. After business partnership with Georges d'Estourny, and later with Claparon, he was stranded and reduced to transcribing for a justice of the peace in the quartier Saint-Jacques. At the same time he began lending money on short time, and by speculating with the poorer class he acquired a certain competence. Although thoroughly debauched, Cerizet married Olympe Cardinal about 1840. At this time he was implicated in the intrigues of Theodose de la Peyrade and in the interests of Jerome Thuillier. Becoming possessed of a note of Maxime de Trailles in 1833, he succeeded by Scapinal tactics in obtaining face value of the paper. [A Man of Business. Scenes from a Courtesan's Life. The Middle Classes.]
CERIZET (Olympe Cardinal, Madame), wife of foregoing; born about 1824; daughter of Mme. Cardinal the fish-dealer. Actress at the Bobino, Luxembourg, then at the Folies-Dramatiques, where she made her debut in "The Telegraph of Love." At first she was intimate with the first comedian. Afterwards she had Julien Minard for lover. From the father of the latter she received thirty thousand francs to renounce her son. This money she used as a dowry and it aided in consummating her marriage with Cerizet. [The Middle Classes.]
CESARINE, laundry girl at Alencon. Mistress of the Chevalier de Valois, and mother of a child that was attributed to the old aristocrat. It was also said in the town, in 1816, that he had married Cesarine clandestinely. These rumors greatly annoyed the chevalier, since he had hoped at this time to wed Mlle. Cormon. Cesarine, the sole legatee of her lover, received an income of only six hundred livres. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
CESARINE, dancer at the Opera de Paris in 1822; an acquaintance of Philippe Bridau, who at one time thought of breaking off with her on account of his uncle Rouget at Issoudun. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
CHABERT (Hyacinthe), Count, grand officer of the Legion of Honor, colonel of a cavalry regiment. Left for dead on the battlefield of Eylau (February 7–8, 1807). He was healed at Heilsberg, then locked up in an insane asylum at Stuttgart. Returning to France after the downfall of the Empire, he lived, in 1818, in straitened circumstances, with the herdsman Vergniaud, an old lieutenant of his regiment, on rue du Petit-Banquier, Paris. After having sought without arousing scandal to make good his rights with Rose Chapotel, his wife, now married to Count Ferraud, he sank again into poverty and was convicted of vagrancy. He ended his days at the Hospital de Bicetre; they had begun at the Foundling Hospital. [Colonel Chabert.]
CHABERT (Madame), nee Rose Chapotel. (See Ferraud, Comtesse.)
CHABOISSEAU, an old bookseller, book-lender, something of a usurer, a millionaire living in 1821–1822 on quai Saint-Michel, where he discussed a business deal with Lucien de Rubembre, who had been piloted there by Lousteau. [A Distinguished Provincial at Paris.] He was a friend of Gobseck and of Gigonnet and with them he frequented, in 1824, the Cafe Themis. [The Government Clerks.] During the reign of Louis Philippe he had dealings with the Cerizet-Claparon Company. [A Man of Business.]
CHAFFAROUX, building-contractor, one of Cesar Birotteau's creditors [Cesar Birotteau]; uncle of Claudine Chaffaroux who became Mme. du Bruel. Rich and a bachelor, he showered much affection upon his niece; she had helped him to launch into business. He died in the second half of the reign of Louis Philippe, leaving an income of forty thousand francs to the former danseuse. [A Prince of Bohemia.] In 1840 he did some work on an unfinished house in the suburbs of the Madeleine, purchased by the Thuilliers. [The Middle Classes.]
CHAMAROLLES (Mesdemoiselles), conducted a boarding-school for young ladies at Bourges, at the beginning of the century. This school enjoyed a great reputation in the department. Here was educated Anna Grosetete, who later married the third son of Comte de Fontaine; also Dinah Piedefer who became Mme. de la Baudray. [The Muse of the Department.]
CHAMPAGNAC, charman of Limoges, a widower, native of Auvergne. In 1797 Jerome-Baptiste Sauviat married Champagnac's daughter, who was at least thirty. [The Country Parson.]
CHAMPIGNELLES (De), an illustrious Norman family. In 1822 a Marquis de Champignelles was the head of the leading house of the country at Bayeux. Through marriage this family was allied with the Navarreins, the Blamont-Chauvries, and the Beauseants. Marquis de Champignelles introduced Gaston de Nueil to Mme. de Beauseant's home. [The Deserted Woman.] A M. de Champignelles presented Mme. de la Chanterie to Louis XVIII., at the beginning of the Restoration. The Baronne de la Chanterie was formerly a Champignelles. [The Seamy Side of History.]
CHAMPION (Maurice), a young boy of Montegnac, Haute-Vienne, son of the postmaster of that commune; employed as stable-boy at Mme. Graslin's, time of Louis Philippe. [The Country Parson.]
CHAMPLAIN (Pierre), vine-dresser, a neighbor of the crazy Margaritis, at Vouvray in 1831. [Gaudissart the Great.]
CHAMPY (Madame de), name given to Esther Gobseck.
CHANDOUR (Stanislas de), born in 1781; one of the habitues of the Bargeton's drawing-room at Angouleme, and the "beau" of that society. In 1821 he was decorated. He obtained some success with the ladies by his sarcastic pleasantries in the fashion of the eighteenth century. Having spread about town a slander relating to Mme. de Bargeton and Lucien de Rubempre, he was challenged by her husband and was wounded in the neck by a bullet, which wound brought on him a kind of chronic twist of the neck. [Lost Illusions.]
CHANDOUR