Marguerite Steinheil

Born Marguerite-Jeanne Japy in Beaucourt, France, on April 16, 1869, she came from the wealthy Japy industrial family and married the painter Adolphe Steinheil in 1890. In Paris she became part of high society, known for her connections in artistic and political circles during the Belle Époque.

She is most often remembered for the scandals that made her a household name. She was linked to French president Félix Faure at the time of his sudden death in 1899, and a decade later she stood trial after the deaths of her husband and mother at her home. Her acquittal in 1909 only deepened public fascination, and the case remained one of the era’s most talked-about dramas.

Later in life she married Robert Scarlett, 6th Baron Abinger, becoming Baroness Abinger, and she published a memoir in English. She died in Hove, England, on July 17, 1954.