thumb|Clémentine Delait in 1923
Clémentine Delait (5 March 1865 – 5 April 1939) was a French bearded lady who kept a café. She has been described by contemporaries as "the most illustrious and celebrated bearded lady in France" and "the perfect example of a bearded lady".
Fame
Delait began selling photographs and postcards of herself and became something of a celebrity. She began touring Europe, attracting great crowds in Paris and London. Her touring intensified after she became a widow in 1926.
In 1900, she took part in much publicized stunt during which she entered a lion cage and played cards with the lion tamer while inside, as legend has it, scaring the lions in the process. In 1904, she received special permission from the authorities to wear men's clothes at her leisure, at a time when it was illegal for women to wear masculine garb.
By all accounts, she was very proud of her beard and took great care of it. Charles Grossier, her former barber, claimed that Delait would "watch him like a hawk" whenever he trimmed her beard. Grossier visited her three times per week to wash her beard with a special shampoo and claimed that "she took care of that beard, she washed it, she clucked over, she brushed it every day".
Legacy
In the 1970s, a museum dedicated to Clémentine Delait was opened in Thaon-les-Vosges.