Lachman, Thérèse (1819–1884)

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Lachman, Thérèse (1819–1884)

French courtesan. Name variations: Therese Lachman; La Païva or La Paiva; Mme Villoing; Mme la Marquise de Païva; Countess Henckle von Donnersmarck. Born 1819 in Moscow ghetto; died Jan 21, 1884, in husband's castle, Neudeck, Germany; dau. of a weaver; m. Antoine Villoing (tailor), Aug 11, 1836 (died 1849); m. Albino Francesco de Païva-Araujo, a Portuguese marquis, June 5, 1851 (committed suicide 1872); m. Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck (wealthy Prussian and count); children: (1st m.) 1 son; (with Herz) daughter.

Abandoned husband and son and moved to Paris; met pianist Henri Herz and became his mistress (1841); held a salon for the likes of Richard Wagner, Hans von Bülow and Théophile Gautier; journeyed to London, where she had an affair with Lord Stanley; also said to be mistress of Napoleon III; married 2nd husband and became known as La Païva; abandoned him and married once more; a canny businesswoman, amassed a fortune; built the hotel Païva in the Champs-Elysees; exiled with Prussian husband under suspicion of being spies (c. 1878).