Amazing Jewish Women of Paris

Professor Andrew Lear is a world-renowned expert on sexuality in art and the author of the best-known book on sexuality in Greek vase-painting.  He is the founder of Oscar Wilde Tours, the gay history tour company, and Shady Ladies Tours, the woman's history tour company.

Andrew Lear

Come learn about the lives and achievements of three fabulous Jewish women from Paris history!

<p><em><strong>Can&#x27;t make the live event?  No problem!  You can watch the video at your convenience for 2 weeks.</strong></em></p><p>What country has the 3rd largest Jewish population, after the USA and Israel?  I bet you’re not thinking “France,” but France it is, with about 500,000 Jews.  French Jews have had a complex story, with low points—such as the condemnation of Captain Alfred Dreyfus to Devil’s Island in 1895 on false charges of treason—but also high points—such as Dreyfus’ liberation and pardon 4 years later.</p><p></p><p>And being France, if there is a group, then there are fascinating *women* in that group.  In fact, we have already talked about fabulous French-Jewish women in some of our previous talks, such as Geneviève Halévy, the great salonnière who gave Proust his entrée into high society (and was married to the composer Bizet earlier on), and Esther Lachmann, known as La Païva, one of the glittering queens who reigned over the shady side of Paris society in Paris’ most glamorous moment, the Belle Epoque.</p><p></p><p>So today we give you three more.  We start with another great personality of the Belle Epoque, perhaps the first great international celebrity, actress Sarah Bernhardt, the creator of great roles (written for her) such as the Lady of the Camellias, Tosca, and Oscar Wilde’s Salome—and the woman whose willowy body inspired the Art Nouveau.</p><p></p><p>From Sarah Bernhardt, we move on to two modern women.  First, Edith and Professor Lear’s favorite pop singer, Barbara, of whose wonderful songs we will play you excerpts (with our translations).  Barbara is not well known in the US, but to give you an idea of her European popularity, Prime Minister Schroeder of Germany said that her song “Göttingen” had done more for French-German relations than all the postwar treaties, and her final album, recorded in her late 80s, sold over a million copies in the first 12 hours.</p><p></p><p>Barbara was a great activist for peace (and against AIDS), but probably the most famous woman activist in French politics of the last 50 years is Simone Veil, a survivor of Auschwitz who ultimately became the president of the European Union and was known in France, among many other things, for “la loi Veil” (the Veil law), legalizing abortion.  You might think of her as a French Notorious RBG!</p><p></p><p>It’s hard to think of 3 more phenomenal women, so come learn about their lives and works—and the Jewish history of Paris at the same time.</p><p></p>

<h3>ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:</h3><p>Parisian native <strong>Edith de Belleville</strong> was an attorney at law for many years, but her passion for Paris and its history led her back to university (at the age of 50) to get her official tour guide license. Deeply inspired by Parisian women of the past, Edith decided to write a book, in French, entitled<em> The Beautiful Rebels of Paris</em> (Belles et Rebelles, Editions du 81 ). Edith also teaches Jewish heritage in Paris at University Gustave Eiffel (Marne- la- Vallée), and has just finished writing a book in English which will be published soon, <em>La Vie Parisienne, adventures of a modern- day Parisienne</em>. </p><p><strong>Prof. Andrew Lear</strong> is a renowned expert on same-sex relations in Greek and Roman antiquity. During his academic career, he taught at Harvard, Pomona College, and NYU. In recent years, he has founded Oscar Wilde Tours, the LGBTQ history and culture tour company and Shady Ladies Tours, a women&#x27;s history and culture tour company. He is also working with actor/author Stephen Fry on a podcast about the &quot;Scandals and Secrets of London&#x27;s National Portrait Gallery.&quot;</p>

<h2>FAQs</h2><h3>When will the Zoom invite come?</h3><p>The Zoom invite will be in the CONFIRMATION EMAIL from your order—IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE IT IN YOUR CONFIRMATION EMAIL PLEASE MESSAGE US IMMEDIATELY. Subsequent to this, the Zoom invite will be sent to your email address at 48hrs, 2hrs, and 10mins before the event. PLEASE CHECK YOUR SPAM AND SOCIAL FOLDERS IF YOU DO NOT SEE THE ZOOM INVITE IN YOUR INBOX.</p><h3>If I can&#x27;t make the live recording, can I watch the event at another time?</h3><p>The event will be recorded, and all ticket holders will receive a link to the recording by email the evening after the presentation, with a password to access it.  It will be available to view for 2 weeks after the live event. If you do not receive the link to the recording a couple of hours after the live event please email us—sometimes Eventbrite emails can get lost in spam/social folders.</p><h3>What time zone is the event scheduled in?</h3><p>The event is scheduled for 2pm EST (i.e. New York time). You can watch it in any time zone but please adjust to the time zone you are in.</p><h3>Refund policy?</h3><p>Refunds are available up to the start time of the event. After the start time, refunds are only available if you have been unable to access the event.</p>

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Amazing Jewish Women of Paris

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