I have Patrick's permission to share this: <<About the "de" before Maupin, I have also seen it before. The most famous example is Mademoiselle de Maupin in the 18th century, France. She took the name from her husband and I am not sure they had children ... He was rich and old, was kind of "adventurous". The "de" is a mark of nobility, like "von" in germany or "Lord" in the UK. If it is really a nobility mark then "Maupin" must be the name of a place. Mau sounds a bit like mauvais (bad) and pin as it seems is for pine (tree), therefore Maupin could be "The place where stands a malefic pine tree" .... It seems also that not every Maupin was a noble person since Gabriel and Marie had no "de". Many families lost their "de" after the French Revolution ... De Maupin might be one of them, Regards, Patrick>>

Hi, June forwared you : > ... He was rich and old, was kind of "adventurous". > it should rather be read : > ... He was rich and old, SHE was kind of "adventurous". > There is a great novel by Théophile GAUTIER (Tarbes, 1811 -Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1872). It's "Mademoiselle de Maupin" (1835-1836). This book was a real eartquake in the french bourgoisie. In the foreword, Gauthier wrote that Art and Morality have nothing in common ... From Mademoiselle Maupin home page : > Mlle. Maupin was, excepting her sex, the very image of the heroic cavalier: tall, dark and handsome, one of the finest swordsmen of her day. She was athletically built, had very white skin and dark auburn curls with blonde highlights, blue eyes, an aquiline nose, a pretty mouth and, it is said, perfect breasts. > > She was also a star of one of the greatest theatres of her day -- the Paris Opera. She had a lovely contralto voice and a phenomenal memory. Although she was largely unschooled in music and is said by some to have had little talent for singing, her good looks, beautiful voice, love of attention, excellent memory and flamboyance seem to have suited her well for stardom on the stage of the Paris Opera. > > She is said to have been "born with masculine inclinations" as well as having been educated in a very masculine way. Certainly, she often dressed as a man and when she did so could be mistaken for one. She also seemed to have at least as much an eye for members of her own sex as for men. Her skill with the sword, either in exhibition or duels fought in earnest, seems to have been exceptional. > > > Jim Burrows > > To give you a better idea of who was La Maupin (La is for The, it is a kind of recognition that she was someone special), go to : http://www.ultranet.com/~brons/MaupinSourcesDautheville.html (based on a book by Dautheville, Anne France) or best, http://www.ultranet.com/~brons/MaupinIndex.html (Mademoiselle Maupin Home Page) Regards, Patrick ps.: Gauthier was not a minor french writer. Mademoiselle de Maupin is one of his most famous novels, and his "complete works" are contained in 34 volumes. Gauthier inspired guys like