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1761 – 1850: The true story of Madame Tussaud herself
Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax
What you need to know before your trail
Millions have visited the museums that bear her name, yet few know much about Madame Tussaud. A celebrated artist, she had both a ringside seat at and a cameo role in the French Revolution. A victim and survivor of one of the most tumultuous times in history, this intelligent, pragmatic businesswoman has also had an indelible impact on contemporary culture, planting the seed of our obsession with celebrity.
Travel Guide
Strasbourg to Bern, Paris to London
Marie Tussaud was born Marie Grosholtz on December 1, 1761in Strasbourg, France and died April 16, 1850 in London, England. She is the founder of the Madame Tussaud’s waxwork museum in London which has branches across the world.
Born in a small village in Strasbourg, she spent some time in Bern working before moving to Paris. It was here that she met Philippe Curtius and learned the art of wax modelling. He had two museums of waxwork models which Marie Tussaud inherited once he had died in 1794.
Life got really interesting in around 1780 when she was employed as an art tutor at Versailles for Louis XVI’s sister , Madame Élisabeth. During the Reign of Terror,she had the not so very enviable job of creating death masks from freshly severed heads which had just been chopped off by the gullotine.
She married an engineer by the name of François Tussaud, but the marriage was short lived. In 1802 she took her two sons and her collection of wax models to England and toured the British Isles for 33 years before finally establishing a permanent home in Baker Street, London.
Madame Tussauds
She lived in London for around 8 years until she died. The Baker Street museum moved to Marylebone Road in 1884.
Many of the original models made by Marie Tussaud of people of her time such as Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Horatio Nelson, and Sir Walter Scott, have survived to this day.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Madame Tussaud: A Life in Wax
Destination : Strasbourg, Paris, London Author/Guide: Kate Berridge Departure Time: 1761 – 1850
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