Clever Facts About Rosalie Duthé, The First “Dumb Blonde”
Catherine-Rosalie Gerard Duthé was the 18th-century French courtesan who became the world’s first “dumb blonde”. But that's not the real story.
1. She Made Kings Bow
Catherine-Rosalie Gerard Duthé was the first ever recorded “dumb blonde,” but that wasn't her only claim to infamy. As the most exclusive courtesan of her time, Duthé used her golden locks and Venus-like body to bring Europe’s kings to their knees...and she got into quite the scandal along the way.
2. Her Parents Were Nobodies
Unlike the men whose bank accounts she would drain and whose marriages she would ruin, Duthé was not born into a particularly wealthy family. She was born on November 23, 1748 in Versailles to parents of not much importance. Her father was a servant of the king while her mother was a woman of no distinction.
The pair failed Duthé in other ways, too.
3. She Had Absent Family
The details of Duthé’s childhood are scarce, except that her parents didn’t seem particularly involved. Or even present. According to some sources, Duthé’s parents weren’t even there during the registration of her birth. Instead of her parents, her grandmother and her godfather signed the official paperwork.
But the family didn't even have Rosalie around for long.
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4. She Dropped Out Of A Convent
As many respectable young women did at the time, Duthé went to a convent, Saint Aure in Paris, to learn how to be a good little pious girl. This went awry quickly. Instead of finding a deeper love of God or even a decent husband, at age 15 Duthé left the convent to go live with her aunt, Madame Duval.
Her aunt would be the one to introduce her to a life of luxury—and lewdness.
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