Happy 152nd Birthday to the Queen of the Moulin Rouge.

It's easy to admire Jane Avril who was born today 152 years ago in 1868. After all, she was the celebrity of her day. (when fame actually meant something) The undisputed Queen of Montmartre and the Moulin Rouge who had a sense for style and had the artistic masters of her time paying court to her. 
 
But, these are just the obvious reasons. In her youth Jane (then Jeanne) suffered from serious domestic abuse at the hands of her cruel and evil mother who beat her often within an inch of her life. To overcome this and to go on to become THE shining light in Paris in the 1890s is all the more reason to celebrate her life.
 
"I was too proud to cry, but anyway, my mother threatened me with such terrible vengeance if I ever breathed a word to anyone, that that alone froze me into silence. Ah, the nights I spent with my body black and blue and aching from her beatings! But she was clever, as clever as she was evil, for she took care never to mark my face. As the blows rained on me I used to whisper deep down inside myself "oh, stop...stop...stop" But no one ever heard my plea."
 
A quite remarkable woman!