Marie Vernier or Venier (c. 1590â€"1627), was a French stage actress.
She is commonly thought to be the first French actress to be known by
name.[1]A 1602 contract indicates Marie's marriage to Mathieu
Lefebvre, a native of La Roche-Bernard in Brittany. Vernier was from
Sens, where her father was procureur au bailliage.[2] Lefebvre, who
was born in 1574, performed under the stage-name of La Porte in Paris
between 1594 and 1609.Two other legal documents offer some insight
into the lives of the Vernier and La Porte.[2] In December 1622, Marie
Venière petitioned for and was granted separation of property from
her husband. In June 1624, Mathieu Lefebvre, “desirous of retiring
into some private place to live there the rest of his days,†gave
all his property, real and personal, to his wife in return for an
annual pension of 150 livres.[2] A petition for separation was an
action available only to women and “depended legally on a
husband’s failure to maintain his wife.†[2] These petitions could
also be motivated by the need to protect the household from creditors;
perhaps that was the case here, since Lefebvre later donated all of
his property to his wife.By 1627 Mary Venière was remarried to a
lawyer, Jean Rémond, who practiced at the Parlement de Paris,
France's highest court.[2] Isaac de Laffemas sued Marie Vernier for
defamation in 1627.[2]
She is commonly thought to be the first French actress to be known by
name.[1]A 1602 contract indicates Marie's marriage to Mathieu
Lefebvre, a native of La Roche-Bernard in Brittany. Vernier was from
Sens, where her father was procureur au bailliage.[2] Lefebvre, who
was born in 1574, performed under the stage-name of La Porte in Paris
between 1594 and 1609.Two other legal documents offer some insight
into the lives of the Vernier and La Porte.[2] In December 1622, Marie
Venière petitioned for and was granted separation of property from
her husband. In June 1624, Mathieu Lefebvre, “desirous of retiring
into some private place to live there the rest of his days,†gave
all his property, real and personal, to his wife in return for an
annual pension of 150 livres.[2] A petition for separation was an
action available only to women and “depended legally on a
husband’s failure to maintain his wife.†[2] These petitions could
also be motivated by the need to protect the household from creditors;
perhaps that was the case here, since Lefebvre later donated all of
his property to his wife.By 1627 Mary Venière was remarried to a
lawyer, Jean Rémond, who practiced at the Parlement de Paris,
France's highest court.[2] Isaac de Laffemas sued Marie Vernier for
defamation in 1627.[2]
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