Draft:Ernestine Nadar

Ernestine Tournachon (2 July 1836 – 27 January 1909) was a French model.

As the wife, mother and sister-in-law of photographers, she financially supported their activities and frequently served as their models.

Life
Ernestine Constance Lefèvre was born on 2 July 1836 in Épinay-sur-Seine in Seine-Saint-Denis. . Ernestine Constance Lefèvre married Gaspard Félix Tournachon, known as Félix Nadar, on 11 September 1854. The religious wedding takes place at the Reformed Church of Paris8. Félix Nadar is, among other things, a novelist, a press owner, a journalist, a caricaturist, a photographer and a man of science. He photographed the great names of the time, including Baudelaire, George Sand, Sarah Bernhardt and Victor Hugo9.

Their son Paul Armand Tournachon, known as Nadar, was born on February 8, 1856.. In 1860, the Nadars moved from 113 Saint-Lazare Street to 35 Capucines Boulevard.

On 18 October 1863, Ernestine and Félix Nadar were injured in the crash of the balloon Le Géant12:78, as La Petite Illustration reminds us:

Ernestine Nadar posed for many photographs of her husband Félix Nadar. In 1871, the workshop moved to 51, rue d'Anjou. Paul Nadar assisted his mother in the management of the company. Ernestine Nadar helped to save it from bankruptcy: in 1886, the Nadars had cleared their debts. That same year, Adrien Tournachon wrote to Ernestine Nadar and highlighted "[her] long practice in business" and "the profession of which [she] is certainly the head".

Ernestine Nadar also financially supported her brother-in-law Adrien Tournachon, known as Nadar Jeune, himself a photographer: in 1873, she bought his property at the Hermitage located in Draveil in the forest of Sénart by auction. The acquisition appears in the security interests of an obligation which she contracted in 1874.

Believing his son Paul to have died in a fire at the Opéra-Comique National Theatre (the "Salle Favart") on 25 May 188737, Ernestine Nadar suffers a stroke. Ernestine Nadar regularly goes to a spa treatment to soothe her paralysis in Allevard. Ernestine Nadar died on 27 January 1909 at her home at the age of 72.