Straus, Geneviève, 1849-1926

Geneviève Straus was the daughter of Fromental Halévy and Lèonie Rodriguès. She maried the composer George Bizet in 1869; he died in 1875. Their son Jacques was a preparatory school classmate of Marcel Proust. In 1886 she married the lawyer Emile Straus (1884-1929); they held one of the artistic salons in Paris in the late 19th and early 20th century. Proust used her as the basis for his Duchesse of Guermantes in his A la recherche du temps perdu. Through their friendship with Joseph Reinach they became participants in the Dreyfus affair.

From the description of [Scrapbook / Geneviève Straus] [ca. 1880-1920] (Smith College). WorldCat record id: 71753000