History bearded French

• History bearded French

Clementine Klato-contained doula with her husband, a bakery and cafe in a small town in northern France. Her life was very ordinary, and, in principle, unremarkable, until one day she visited the carnival in Nancy. There she saw a woman with stubble on his face, which boasted that the other so no one in the audience will not find anywhere else on earth. "Here's another," - apparently decided then Clementine - "This woman definitely knows what a real beard."

When Clementine Klato-doula (Clementine Clattaux Delait) shared their thoughts with their customers in the cafe, one of them decided to make a bet. Clementine set that will be able to grow a beard and a notable ... "It was an instant success - she writes in his diaries. - Everything just went crazy with my new appearance. "

All this time Clementine regularly shaved off the hair on the face, possibly suffering from polycystic ovary syndrome, one symptom of which is just the appearance of a beard in women. Anyway, Clementine and her husband received 500 francs from the winning bet.

Moreover, a new image Clementine - and she's grown a beard really notable, the envy of all the local men - not only pushed her customers cafes and bakeries, but on the contrary become the calling card of the family business Clementine and her husband. They even renamed its cafe "Cafe bearded woman." Moreover, the husband of Clementine suggested to expand the range of their trade, and now in the new cafe, you could buy different souvenirs (postcards, signed photos, posters) with bearded Clementine.

About Clementine began to write first in all French newspapers, and then her fame has spread throughout Europe. Everyone wanted to see the famous successful bearded woman at carnivals or fairs. Then, as we are talking about the end of XIX - early XX centuries, people with such an unusual appearance enjoyed incredible popularity. And clementines, of course, flattered by such attention, but she still chose to stay and work in the cafe, who devoted his life.

In 2005, one of the collectors came across 50-page book - memoirs of Clementine, including her photographs, newspaper clippings and individual records of her life. Clementine wrote that invitations to participate in various performances could be quite profitable, but sickened her self-esteem. "I am well aware that in this case, I'm just the lady on an unusual exhibition - wrote Clementine. - And I'm a lot more than this, I am much better. "

And it is true, Clementine life was quite intense: in addition to doing business with a bakery and café, it also served as a nurse during the war, exercise regularly, participating in the cycling competitions and breed dogs. His children have not been Clementine (infertility is also a common symptom of polycystic ovarian syndrome), so that she and her husband adopted a 5-year-old girl whose parents had died of "Spanish flu".

Clementine has agreed to participate in the carnival only after the death of her beloved husband. She was all the time with him while he was ill, and decided to take a trip after his death in 1928. Clementine survived her husband for 11 years and lived this time quietly, and apparently that's when she wrote her memoirs. Their records she finished with these words: "My humble life was perfect and worthy of respect of my countrymen."

On her tombstone she asked me to write "Here lies Clementine doula, a bearded woman."