Herbert Charles Pollitt
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Herbert Charles Pollitt (July 20, 1871 – 1942), also known as Jerome Pollitt, was a female impersonator who performed as Diane de Rougy (an homage to
Liane de Pougy Liane de Pougy (born Anne-Marie Chassaigne, 2 July 1869 – 26 December 1950) was a French dancer, courtesan and novelist. She was a Folies Bergère vedette, and was known as one of the most beautiful and notorious courtesans in Paris. Later in ...
). He became notorious as a Cambridge undergraduate due to his taste for Decadent art and literature, and was immortalised as the eponymous hero of an
E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer. Early life E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshire, ...
novel (''The Babe B.A.'') in 1896. He became a very close friend of the artist
Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...
, and had a brief but significant relationship with the occultist
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
. Following his time at Cambridge, Pollitt moved to London and saw service in the First World War as a lance-corporal. He died in 1942.


Early life and education

Pollitt was the son of Charles Pollitt, the proprietor of ''
The Westmorland Gazette ''The Westmorland Gazette'' is a weekly newspaper published in Kendal, England, covering "South Lakeland and surrounding areas", including Barrow and North Lancashire. Its name refers to the historic county of Westmorland. The paper is now owned ...
'' and his wife, Jane. He attended Heversham school, then went on to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
in 1889. He gained his BA in 1892 and his MA in 1896. At Cambridge, he became president of
Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...
, the Cambridge University Dramatic Club. He was described as one of the most notorious and talked-about undergraduates of his tenure, his rooms furnished with pictures by Beardsley,
James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...
, and
Félicien Rops Félicien Victor Joseph Rops (; 7 July 1833 – 23 August 1898) was a Belgian artist associated with Symbolism (arts), Symbolism, Decadence, and the Parisian , a member of the Les XX group. He was a painter, illustrator, caricaturist and a proli ...
, and his bookshelves stocked with
Decadent Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...
works. Ultimately, he failed to qualify as a doctor. In late 1897, he decided to be known as Jerome Pollitt.


Diane de Rougy

The name of Pollitt's female alter-ego, Diane de Rougy, was inspired by
Liane de Pougy Liane de Pougy (born Anne-Marie Chassaigne, 2 July 1869 – 26 December 1950) was a French dancer, courtesan and novelist. She was a Folies Bergère vedette, and was known as one of the most beautiful and notorious courtesans in Paris. Later in ...
, a vedette at the
Folies Bergère 150px, Stanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg">Walery, 1927 The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the arc ...
who also had a reputation as one of Paris's most beautiful and notorious courtesans. In performance, however, de Rougy's noted scarf-dancing was more like that of the American dancer
Loie Fuller Loie Fuller (; born Marie Louise Fuller; January 15, 1862 – January 1, 1928), also known as Louie Fuller and Loïe Fuller, was an American dancer and a pioneer of modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques. Auguste Rodin said of her, "Lo ...
. As the Footlights were largely a masculine establishment, female impersonation was not uncommon, but de Rougy became particularly renowned for her performances and as much a local Cambridge celebrity as Pollitt himself. She danced in two plays by Arthur Pilkington Shaw for Footlights, and it was claimed that her performances made women jealous. In 1894,
Frederick Hollyer Frederick Hollyer (17 June 1838 – 21 November 1933) was an English photographer and engraving, engraver known for his photographic reproductions of paintings and drawings, particularly those of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and for portrait ...
exhibited a photographic portrait of de Rougy at the London Photographic Salon.


As patron

Pollitt was a close friend of
Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...
and became a collector of his art alongside other examples of erotica. He was also close to
Leonard Smithers Leonard Charles Smithers (19 December 1861 – 19 December 1907) was a London bookseller and publisher associated with the Decadent movement of the late 19th century. Biography Born in Sheffield, England, Smithers worked as a solicitor after ...
, Beardsley's publisher, from whom he purchased pornography for his collection. In his last letter, written on his deathbed, Beardsley begged Smithers and Pollitt to destroy all his erotic drawings and work, a request which both men ignored. Pollitt was also a collector and sometime patron of
James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...
, and held an at-home exhibition of the artist's etchings in 1910. While Whistler began painting a portrait of Pollitt in 1896–1897, the painting was unfinished and ultimately destroyed. However, Whistler's
lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
ic portrait of Pollitt from 1896 and a drawing survive in the collection of the
Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
.


Personal life

In October 1897, following his return to Footlights to perform as Diane de Rougy, Pollitt met
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
, and the two swiftly entered into a relationship. Crowley wrote that "I lived with Pollitt as his wife for some six months and he made a poet out of me." The relationship ultimately failed through Pollitt's unwillingness to take part in Crowley's interest in mysticism. This led to a quarrel, in which Crowley informed Pollitt that he did not fit into his plans for his life. Crowley quickly regretted the break-up, but they did not reconcile, and an accidental snub on
Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...
ultimately estranged Pollitt from his former lover. Crowley remained attached to Pollitt, who inspired a number of sonnets and other poems, and immortalized him in his 1910 book on homosexual love, ''The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz''. Finally, in his autobiography '' The Confessions of Aleister Crowley'', he recalled the end of the relationship as a "lifelong regret." The exact nature of Pollitt's relationship with Beardsley is unclear, although the two men shared a keen interest in erotica and possibly
transvestism Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...
. Beardsley referred to Pollitt as "My best good friend," and created a bookplate specially for him that seemed to echo Pollitt's vision of his female alter-ego. Pollitt also sent risqué photographs of himself to their mutual friend
Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...
.


Later life

In 1901 Pollitt was living in
Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...
, London. In August 1914 following the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he enlisted in the
Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...
and served as a
Lance-Corporal Lance corporal is a military rank, used by many English-speaking armed forces worldwide, and also by some police forces and other uniformed organisations. It is below the rank of corporal. Etymology The presumed origin of the rank of lance corp ...
of the 9159th regiment.


In popular culture

In
E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, historian and short story writer. Early life E. F. Benson was born at Wellington College (Berkshire), Wellington College in Berkshire, ...
's 1896 novel ''The Babe B.A.'', the eponymous Babe is a barely disguised portrait of Pollitt as a student:


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollitt, Herbert Charles 1871 births 1942 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army personnel of World War I English LGBTQ entertainers British LGBTQ military personnel English gay entertainers Female impersonators Royal Army Medical Corps soldiers