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The adventurous woman nicknamed La Belle Créole is brought to life in this book through the full use of her memoirs, contemporary accounts, and her intimate letters. The fascinating María de las Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, also known as Mercedes, and later the Comtesse Merlin, was a Cuban-born aristocrat who was years ahead of her time as a writer, a socialite, a salon host, and a participant in the Cuban slavery debate. Raised in Cuba and shipped off to live with her socialite mother in Spain at the age of 13, Mercedes triumphed over the political chaos that blanketed Europe in the Napoleonic days, by charming aristocrats from all sides with her exotic beauty and singing voice. She married General Merlin in Napoleon's army and discussed painting with Francisco de Goya. In Paris she hosted the city's premier musical salon where Liszt, Rossini, and great divas of the day performed for Rothschilds, Balzac, and royalty. Celebrated as one of the greatest amateur sopranos of her day, Mercedes also achieved fame as a writer. Her memoirs and travel writings introduced European audiences to 19th-century Cuban society and contributed to the debate over slavery. Mercedes has recently been rediscovered as Cuba's earliest female author and one who deserves a place in the canon of Latin American literature.
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Previews available in: English
Subjects
Countesses, Court and courtiers, Socialites, Cuban Women authors, Slavery, Biography, History, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Historical, HISTORY / Caribbean & West Indies / Cuba, Women authors, Slavery, cuba, Spain, court and courtiers, Cuba, biography, Spain, biography, Nobility, Celebrities, Paris (france), biographyTimes
1810-1899, 19th centuryEdition | Availability |
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1
La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris
Sep 01, 2017, Chicago Review Press
paperback
1613738293 9781613738290
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2
La Belle Créole: the Cuban countess who captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris
2014
in English
- First edition.
1613745362 9781613745366
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Book Details
Table of Contents
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Includes bibliographical references and index.
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- Created July 18, 2019
- 6 revisions
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December 21, 2022 | Edited by MARC Bot | import existing book |
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July 18, 2019 | Created by MARC Bot | Imported from marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary MARC record |