author
Marguerite Steinheil
1869–1954
Best remembered as the woman at the center of one of Belle Époque France’s biggest scandals, she lived a life that moved from glittering Paris salons to courtrooms, memoirs, and eventual exile in England. Her story blends high society, political rumor, and true-crime notoriety in a way that still feels startlingly modern.
1 Audiobook
My Memoirs
by Marguerite Steinheil
About the author
Born Marguerite Jeanne Japy in Beaucourt, France, in 1869, she came from the wealthy Japy industrial family and later married the painter Adolphe Steinheil. In Paris she became a well-known salon hostess, moving in artistic and political circles and becoming closely associated with President Félix Faure.
Her name became famous after Faure’s death in 1899, which quickly sparked rumor and gossip, and even more so after the 1908 murders of her husband and mother at the Steinheil home. Put on trial in 1909, she was acquitted, but the case turned her into one of the most talked-about women of her time.
She later wrote My Memoirs and, after remarrying, became Baroness Abinger, spending her later years in England. She died in 1954, leaving behind a life story remembered as much for its social ambition and survival as for the sensational headlines that surrounded it.