Anne Marie Dubernet known as Cyprienne Dubernet, Madame Olympe Hériot and later Madame Roger Douine (1857 – 5 December 1945), was a French

patron of the arts Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

and philanthropist, who was made a

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

Biography

Daughter of a wool-spinner, Anne Marie Dubernet came from a modest family in

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.corsets at the Grands Magasins du Louvre and on 24 August 1887 married the director-proprietor, Olympe Hériot (1833–1899), to whom she had already borne two children. They had four children in total, including

Virginie Hériot Virginie Claire Désirée Marie Hériot (26 July 1890 – 28 August 1932) was a French yachtswoman who won in the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 8 Metre ''Aile VI''.competitive sailor. In 1894 they moved to a mansion in Paris. Widowed in 1899, Anne Marie inherited her husband's fortune in accordance with his will. In 1903 she redeveloped a site of on the Rue de la Faisanderie in Paris, commissioning architect

Hans-Georg Tersling Hans-Georg Tersling (7 December 1857 – 13 November 1920) was a Danish architect who lived and worked for most of his life on the French Riviera where he became one of the most significant and productive architects of the Belle Époque. His w ...

to build a mansion, which she sold in 1928. In 1904 she bought a yacht, ''Ketoomba'', which she renamed ''Salvador''. She wrote a memoir of her voyages (''Croisière en Méditerranée'' ( Coulommiers, P. Brodard, 1905, 298 pages, in-8)). Around 1904, she commissioned architect Edouard Arnaud to build the

Villa Cypris Villa Cypris is a seaside villa in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin on the French Riviera. The villa was built c. 1904 in Neo-Byzantine style by architect Edouard Arnaud for Cyprienne Dubernet, the widow of Grands Magasins du Louvre's proprietor Olympe Hé ...

Roquebrune-Cap-Martin Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (; oc, Ròcabruna Caup Martin or ; it, Roccabruna-Capo Martino, ; Mentonasc: ''Rocabrüna''; Roquebrune until 1921) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Southeastern F ...

on the French Riviera. On 16 December 1908 she remarried to Roger Douine Hippolytus (died 1925). During

the First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she turned her

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

Essoyes Essoyes () is a commune in the Aube department in north-central France. Impressionist artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir had a house in the town. The village, hometown of his wife Aline and model and governess of his children Gabrielle Renard, ...

into a hospital. She sold this in 1929. In 1917 she donated 1.5 million

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...

s to enlarge an orphanage founded in 1884 by her first husband in the grounds of his

Château de La Boissière A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. No ...

La Boissière-École La Boissière-École () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. Geography The village is located in the Southern West of Yvelines. Most of the landscape is constituted of forest. The place is separated in two. The castl ...

. In 1920 she donated to the orphanage the Castel de Barbe-Brulée near

Cancale Cancale (; ; Gallo: ''Cauncall'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is known as the birthplace of Saint Jeanne Jugan. Population Inhabitants of Cancale are called ''Cancalais'' in French. Tou ...

to serve as a holiday home. Thanks to her generosity she was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur on 5 June 1921 by the order of Marshal

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

. She was buried in the family vault in La Boissière-École.

References

Sources

''Translator's note: These are in French.'' * Bernard Pharisien, ''L'Exceptionnelle famille Hériot'', Le Mée-sur-Seine, Imprimerie Némont, 2001 () * Gérard Rousset-Charny, ''Les Palais parisiens de la Belle Époque'', Paris, Délégation à l'action artistique de la Ville de Paris, 1990, pp. 170 sqq. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubernet, Cyprienne 1857 births 1945 deaths People from Nérac Knights of the Legion of Honour