In the 19th century, Sarah Bernhardt was the most famous actress in the world.

For half a century, she was the undisputed queen of the theater.

In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of History", Jean des Cars portrays the legendary actress on international tours. 

Destined to be a religious, Sarah Bernhardt espouses a completely different vocation.

If her talent dazzles audiences in the biggest theaters, her fiery character will cause her a lot of harm ... In this new episode of the Europe 1 Studio podcast "At the heart of history", Jean des Cars retraces the career of the theater pioneer French. 

The birth of a vocation

In 1856, in the very chic Versailles convent of Grandchamp, a 12-year-old girl with unruly hair watched with envy her comrades rehearsing a play.

Sister Thérèse wrote it especially in honor of the visit the following day by Mgr. Sibour, Archbishop of Paris.

On her uniform, her two initials are embroidered, SB Her name is Sarah Bernhardt but her first name betrays her origins too much in the eyes of the nuns: she renamed her Rosine.

Maybe because it looks like a wild rose, lovely but with spikes ... 

The first thing you notice about her - and will be the case all her life - are her gorgeous bronze-green eyes.

It feels like they change color and turn dark blue when she is angry.

For now, she is watching the dress rehearsal and she finds the young Marie Buget, responsible for interpreting the role of Archangel Gabriel, extremely bad!

Sarah fidgets nervously in her chair.

If she was not chosen, it is first of all because she is not an excellent student but it is above all because she has not yet been baptized.

But she knows all the roles by heart.

She repeats them to herself at night in her bed.

She already knows the gestures and intonations that should be taken.

Suddenly, Archangel Gabriel becomes dumb!

No more sound comes from Marie Buget's mouth!

The girl sobs, saying: "I can never…"

Rosine-Sarah then stands up, leaps onto the stage, shouting: "My Mother! I know her share! Would you like me to repeat it?"

And all her girlfriends confirm: "Yes, yes, you know that!"

Rosine-Sarah then makes her entrance, armed with a willow branch and declaims: "Do not be afraid, Tobie, I will be your guide, I will keep brambles and stones out of your way. Fatigue overwhelms you. Rest. ! I am watching! "

At this point, Tobias must lie down at the edge of five meters of blue veil winding on the ground and supposed to represent the Tigris river.

The nuns are dumbfounded!

The vibrating voice, a voice which does not recite but which declaims, the confidence and the gestures of the little girl amaze them!

Can we make Archangel Gabriel incarnate by an unbaptized?

Sarah is very pious and often says: "When I grow up, I will be a nun".

This must work in her favor, since finally, the Mother Superior decides: "It is indeed Rosina, it is you who will incarnate the Archangel".

And this is how Monsignor Sibour will be the first spectator and admirer of Sarah Bernhardt, dressed in a long white dress completed by two large paper wings.

"We will baptize her in the spring," announces the Mother Superior.

Her father promised to be there.

The archbishop says he will also be present.

Alas, eight days later, he was assassinated in Paris, in the church of Saint-Etienne du Mont, by a half-madman.

But who is this fiery little Sarah Bernhardt?

An astonishing family council

The Mother Superior affirmed that Sarah's father would be there to attend her baptism.

Still it would have been necessary to know who was his father!

Some say that Mr. Bernhardt does not exist, others that he is German.

The granddaughter of the future tragic actress will say that Edouard Bernhardt was a native of Le Havre.

In Paris, he would have met, in a brasserie in the Latin Quarter, a young milliner named Judith van Hard and that this meeting would be born Sarah.

As for Judith, she would either be the daughter of an accountant from Rotterdam or a Berlin milliner born in Holland and whose father was the Berlin oculist Bernhardt. 

Sarah Bernhardt's date of birth is another mystery.

She seems to have been born on October 23, 1844, in Paris, but the address is not very certain, the year either.

Her mother, who is also called "Julie", had entrusted her at birth to a Breton nanny before boarding her in the countryside, in Auteuil.

Then, the child had lived for some time with his aunt Rosine, at the Chaussée d'Antin before being admitted to the convent of Grand-Champs where his mother never came to see her, except perhaps for her baptism or her first. Communion. 

Sarah was sincerely considering becoming a nun.

At the limit of mysticism, she will move away from it later but there will remain a certain gesture, in particular in her overwhelming way of rolling her eyes to the sky.

At 15, she left Grand-Champs to live with her mother, 265 rue Saint-Honoré, on the second floor, in a luxurious apartment.

Mrs. Bernhardt looks in dismay at this tall, lanky and very thin girl.

His only passion is his second daughter, who will be 13 years old, the lovely and blonde Jeanne.

Sarah counts as little as the youngest Regina, who is only 5 years old. 

Mrs. Bernhardt is a well-kept woman.

She is quite pretty with her blue eyes, plump, with short legs.

She is very surrounded.

Besides some famous friends, such Rossini and the Duke of Morny, the all-powerful half-brother of Napoleon III, there is also Baron Larrey, doctor and son of Napoleon's military surgeon, and the old Régis Lavolie whom Sarah calls godfather.

For a young girl leaving the convent, it is a confusing universe.

Fortunately, she can count on her aunt, Rosine, a demi-mondaine with whom she lived, a charming woman. 

But there is above all a friend of her mother's, Mme Guérard, whom Sarah nicknamed "My little lady".

She will play a big role in his life and will always remain his confidante.

One day, Mrs. Guérard comes to look for her in her room, telling her that about ten people are waiting for her in the living room.

It is a kind of family council which must decide its future.

In addition to the regulars of the house, there is a notary, Maître Clément, who came from Le Havre, and who holds 100,000 Francs, a dowry from Sarah's mysterious father.

The godfather Régis wishes an immediate marriage since the young girl has a dowry.

Her mother claims that she cannot afford to support him and that she has to work.

An aunt offers an apprenticeship with a fashionable milliner in the rue des Capucines.

Baron Larrey suggests asking the opinion of the main interested party.

The latter declares that she does not want to get married or be a milliner, she wants to return to Versailles and be a nun.

The lawyer says that for that you have to be rich.

She replies that she has her father's money.

The debate would almost turn into a fist fight if the Duc de Morny had not come out of his silence to peacefully declare that she must be put in the conservatory.

Her mother replies that she is too thin to be an actress, so maybe the gallantry ... 

A few days later, Alexandre Dumas Père took Madame Bernhardt and her daughter to see "Britannicus" at the Comédie-Française.

For the first time, Sarah sees the red curtain rise.

As soon as the play has started, she begins to cry bitterly, she is broken with emotion.

Alexandre Dumas is convinced that she has the soul of an actress.

The same evening, he comes to say good evening to her in her room and whispers to her: "Good evening little star".

Sarah's fate is decided.

The Duke of Morny is going to recommend it to Auber, famous composer, who directs the Conservatory.

He receives it and accepts its registration.

Now she will have to prove herself ... 

Sarah enters the Comédie-Française

At the end of 1859, she transported the admissions jury not by playing the role of Agnes, as planned, because she had no one to give her the answer, but by reciting the fable of La Fontaine " The two pigeons ".

She assiduously attended classes for three years but only obtained the second prize for comedy at the exit.

Pretty Marie Lloyd wins.

We will never hear from her again.

Sarah was the best, and she knew it.

Three years of Conservatory gave her self-confidence. 

It is again the Duc de Morny, who is also President of the Legislative Body, who will push her.

Seduced by her fine and expressive face, he undertakes to bring her into the Comédie-Française.

The next day, she signs her employment contract with the administrator Edouard Thierry.

From August 10, 1862, Sarah made her debut in the tragedy "Iphigénie en Aulide".

Critic Francisque Sarcey finds the debutante a tall and pretty person, nothing more.

On August 24, he considers it insignificant in "Valérie" then in "Les femmes savantes".

But nothing discourages her. 

In May, during the traditional celebration of the anniversary of Molière's death, all the artists are present.

Sarah, in the costume of Georgette from "The School of Women", brings a wreath of laurels that the dean must place on the bust of Molière.

In the hustle and bustle of the foyer, the actress' little sister, Regina, walks on the blue velvet train of fat Madame Nathalie, an irascible member.

She pushes the granddaughter away so violently that she opens her forehead to a column of stucco.

Sarah leaps on the culprit like a panther and sends two round-trip slaps to the unbearable Nathalie, screaming: "Cow! Cow!"

She will refuse to apologize.

His contract is terminated due to scandal.

Nine years will pass before she returns to the Comédie-Française.

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Sarah and the Prince of Ligne

Thanked by the Comédie-Française, Sarah will have to, as one of her friends says, "hunt for commitment and man".

For the commitment to the theater, it is not won.

The bad reputation due to its volcanic character worries theaters.

Manhunt works better!

Her first lover is a handsome hussar, Count K… She doesn't like him, but in this job, you have to have a protector.

Under the Second Empire, demi-mondaines have a social status. 

Finally, his godfather gets him an engagement at the Gymnasium.

She made her debut in April 1864 in "A husband who launches his wife".

She plays there an evaporated Russian princess who eats and dances constantly.

Sarah is so ridiculous there that the night of the premiere, she sobs and thinks of killing herself.

Her handsome hussar is in Algeria and Alexandre Dumas advises her to go and rest elsewhere ... A few hours later, she sends a note to the director of the Gymnasium to tell him not to count on her anymore.

She leaves for Spain.

This is not going to fix her reputation as an actress ...

In fact, she is going to Brussels.

A friend of Dumas father invites him to a sumptuous costume ball.

She is splendid in Elizabeth 1st.

A young, blond Hamlet wows him.

It is Prince Henri de Ligne.

He had already noticed her in Paris, when she was still at the Comédie-Française.

Very quickly, she found herself pregnant.

Her mother drives her out of her house.

The casseroles sometimes have petty bourgeois reactions. 

Sarah moved to rue Duphot and gave birth to little Maurice Bernhardt on December 22, 1864. This child would be the only true great love of her life.

From now on, she will live and work for him.

She is hired at the Ambigu theater to play "La bergère d'Ivry".

We still find her too skinny but she is on stage again.

The Prince de Ligne returns to see her.

He wants to recognize his son and marry him.

She accepts.

He then talks about his decision to his family… dismayed!

A cousin is in charge of going to see the bride.

Later, in the story of her life, Sarah will recount this visit by copying it on the meeting of "La Dame aux Camélias" and the father of Armand Duval.

A moving scene where the cousin manages to convince her that if he gets married, Henri de Ligne will be at odds with his family and disinherited.

Like "La Dame aux Camélias", she promises to sacrifice herself.

She breaks with the prince by telling him that she is choosing her career and that she has just been hired at the Odeon. 

She made her debut on August 15 in "The game of love and chance".

But she is finally really applauded in "Athalie", the tragedy of Racine.

On February 18, 1868, the director of the Odéon wanted to put together "Kean" by Dumas.

The evening of the premiere, the public is hostile because they demand the return of Victor Hugo, still voluntary exile and "Ruy Blas" rather than "Kean".

Sarah makes her entrance in front of a stormy room.

She is extraordinary.

She makes such a triumph that when she leaves the theater, she barely manages to get into her car.

Her admirers quickly unhitch the horses and replace them to bring her home.

Sarah Bernhardt is 24 years old.

She conquered Paris.

Sarah Bernhardt triumphs at the Tuileries

One evening, when leaving the Odeon, a young poet, François Coppée, offers him a piece in verse entitled "Le passer".

This is the first time she has dressed up as a man on stage.

She plays a 17-year-old poet, her lute in her hand.

The first, January 14, 1869, was a triumph.

The actress is acclaimed, she has a dozen callbacks.

She's become a star, she's intoxicated.

The success was such that the Emperor Napoleon III asked the troupe to come and play this piece at the Tuileries.

To prepare for this performance, Sarah goes to the Palais with her dear Mme Guérard, her "little lady".

In the anteroom, she practices making her curtsy, murmuring: "Sire, Sire" ... She asks her companion if her reverence is successful.

Napoleon III, entered the room discreetly, replied: "Very well, Mademoiselle".

She wants to reverence her bow but the emperor tells her that she will never be prettier than the one earlier.

It is said, without proof, that on that day she became the mistress of Napoleon III.

It is with the help of the little Prince Imperial that she arranges shrubs and flowers in the large living room of the Tuileries.

On the day of the performance, it's still a triumph.

In the summer of 1870, when the Franco-Prussian war broke out, the Odeon was transformed into a hospital.

A young soldier with a shoulder wound, thin, blond, and pale, arrives.

He looks at Sarah with admiration.

There is no longer a single bed for him.

She then decides to install him in her dressing room.

The young man explains to him that he is a student of Polytechnique and that he got involved on the first day of the conflict.

He would like a signed photo of his idol.

She does after asking him her name.

She will write: "To Ferdinand Foch, friendly memory of Sarah Bernhardt".

Fifty-two years later, Marshal Foch will be one of the first to come and bow to the body of Sarah Bernhardt who had just died.

In February 1871, Paris capitulated a few days ago.

Sarah leaves the city to join her mother and her son Maurice who have taken refuge in Germany, in Homburg.

It's a bit of a paradox, but his mother was probably of Germanic origin.

With immense difficulties, the actress manages to bring her relatives back to Paris.

It was then that the Commune's insurrection broke out.

The Bernhardt family, like many wealthy Parisians, will settle in Saint-Germain.

Sarah recounts: "From the top of the terrace of the Château de Saint-Germain where the crowd stood morning and evening, we saw the threatening progress of the Commune. On all sides of Paris, flames rose, proud and devastating ... Some days, and those were the most distressing, an opaque veil of smoke enveloped Paris… The city was burning slyly. "

She finally returned to Paris after the tragic end of the Commune ... 

"One morning, I received a rehearsal bulletin from the Odeon. I stamped my foot, inhaling the air, like a young horse snorting. We reopened the barrier. We were going to gallop again through dreams."

Sarah triumphs in "Ruy Blas" and returns to the Comédie-Française

Obviously, with the end of the Second Empire and the return of Victor Hugo, the Odeon decides to reopen with the piece “Ruy Blas”, long awaited and so much requested by the spectators.

Sarah Bernhardt of course embodies the Queen of Spain.

His relationship with Victor Hugo, at first a little distant, will become theater within theater.

During rehearsals, while the author tries to improve his diction with a young actor, Sarah, seated on a table, swings her legs impatiently.

Annoyed, Hugo throws him two Alexandrines:

"A queen of Spain, honest and respectable,


Should not sit on a table like this"

Sarah jumped up, very annoyed not to have the spirit of repartee.

She will nevertheless deeply admire Victor Hugo.

She will write: "He was charming, the monster, and so witty, and so fine, and so gallant: a gallantry which is a tribute, not an insult ... When he arrived, everything was illuminated ... Until this day, I 'had remained the little fairy of the students. With him, I became the chosen one of the public. "

The premiere of "Ruy Blas" took place on January 26, 1872. The actress experienced a real triumph, the great inaugural triumph of her career, and Victor Hugo then murmured: "This is the first time that this role has been played! C he is better than an artist, she is a woman ".

A few days later, she received a large envelope marked with a round stamp bearing these words: "Comédie Française, 1680".

The new administrator, Emile Perrin, offers him to come back.

What revenge after his brutal dismissal nine years earlier!

But will she accept?

Bibliographic resources:

André Castelot,

Bewitching Sarah Bernhardt

(Perrin, 1972)

Maurice Rostand,

Sarah Bernhardt

(Calmann-Lévy, 1950)

Henry Gidel,

Sarah Bernhardt

(Flammarion, 2006)

"At the heart of History" is a Europe 1 Studio podcast

Author and presentation: Jean des Cars


Production, distribution and edition: Timothée Magot


Director: Laurent Sirguy


Graphics: Karelle Villais