A debut as Pallas Athena in the 1690 production of Cadmus et Hermione launched the career of the singer known as La Maupin at the Paris Opera. Before achieving acclaim for what the Marquis de Dangeau described as the most beautiful voice in the world, she cultivated a life marked by fencing, cross-dressing, and scandalous public duels.
Early Training and Departure from Paris
Born in Paris in 1673 to Gaston d'Aubigny, she received an education atypical for women of the time. Her father, who managed court pages for the comte d'Armagnac, trained her in academic subjects and fencing. By age 12, she exhibited sufficient skill to defeat men in combat. In 1687, she entered a marriage with Monsieur Maupin, who soon departed for the south of France. Shortly thereafter, she fled Paris with an assistant fencing master named Séranne following his involvement in a fatal illegal duel.
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While travelling, she performed fencing exhibitions and sang in taverns, often dressed in male clothing. After joining Gaultier de Marseilles's opera company, she initiated a relationship with a young woman. When the woman was sent to a convent in Avignon, d'Aubigny followed, entered as a postulant, and orchestrated a daring escape by burning a room to mask the theft of a body. She was subsequently sentenced to death in absentia for arson and body snatching. Despite these legal perils, she secured professional training from a musician named Maréchal and eventually gained entry to the Paris Opera.
Artistic Legacy and Retirement
La Maupin performed at the Paris Opera between 1690 and 1705, appearing in works by composers such as Pascal Collasse, André Cardinal Destouches, and André Campra. Her vocal range was noted as a bas-dessus, or contralto. In 1702, Campra created the role of Clorinde in Tancrède specifically for her. Following the 1705 death of her companion, the Marquise de Florensac, she retired from the stage to a convent, where she died in 1707 at the age of 33.
Fast facts
- Born: 1673, Paris
- Died: 1707
- Primary occupations: Opera singer, actor, swordfighter
- Debut role: Pallas Athena, 1690
- Notable performance: Clorinde in Tancrède, 1702
- Final performance: La vénitienne, 1705
Questions readers ask
Why was she sentenced to death by burning?
She was convicted in absentia for crimes including arson, kidnapping, and body snatching after she set a convent room on fire to facilitate the escape of a female companion.
What is her connection to the novel Mademoiselle de Maupin?
The 1835 novel by Théophile Gautier loosely borrowed her name and elements of her life story, though the plot and characters were fictionalized.
Achievements
- Instruments: voice
