Thérésa Cabarrus, Madame Tallien, later Princess of Chimay (31 July 1773 – 15 January 1835) was a Spanish-born French noblewoman and socialite, who is known as a fashion icon and a famous Salonnière during the Directory period Paris.
Early life
She was born Juana María Ignacia Teresa de Cabarrús y Galabert in Carabanchel Alto, Madrid, Spain to François Cabarrus, an ethnic Basque French-born Spanish financier, and María Antonia Galabert, the daughter of a French industrialist based in Spain. Thérésa's father founded and governed the bank of San Carlos, which became the Royal Bank of Spain, and was King Joseph I of Spain's Minister of Finance. In 1789, he was ennobled by King Charles IV of Spain with the title of count.
From 1778 to 1783, Thérésa was raised by nuns in France. She was a student of the painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey. She returned home to the family castle briefly in 1785, and then her father sent her back to France at twelve years old to complete her education and get married.
The first of her many love affairs was with Alexandre de Laborde; however, the young couple was forced to separate as de Laborde's powerful father, Jean-Joseph de Laborde, disapproved of her. Cabarrus then arranged for his "very beautiful" daughter to marry a rich, powerful Frenchman in order to strengthen his position in France. On 21 February 1788 Thérésa was married to Jean Jacques Devin Fontenay (1762–1817), the last Marquis de Fontenay, a wealthy aristocrat described as small, red and ugly. The bride was fourteen years old. Even though in the 1780s Thérésa had begun to take an interest in Liberalism and the principles of the Revolution, she was presented at the court of King Louis XVI. The newlyweds visited the royal court of Spain as well. On 2 May 1789 Thérésa had a son, Devin Théodore de Fontenay (1789–1815), whose father was perhaps Felix le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau, brother of Louis-Michel le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau.
thumb|Citizen Tallien in a cell in La Force Prison, by [[Jean-Louis Laneuville, 1796. Her hair has been cut short and she is holding her locks in her hands.]]
When her husband fled at the outbreak of the Revolution in 1789, she resumed her maiden name and obtained a divorce in 1791. She took refuge in Bordeaux, where she was supported by her uncle and his family. While in Bordeaux she met Jean Lambert Tallien, Commissioner of the National Convention at the theatre. Some time later she began an affair with him. In December 1793 she appeared as the Goddess of Reason at a large parade organised in Bordeaux by Tallien and his fellow-Commissioner Ysabeau to celebrate the feast of Reason.
Thermidor and Directory
In February 1794, Tallien was denounced by Maximilien Robespierre for moderation and the easing of repression. Robespierre also reproached him for his liaison with 'one Cabarrus, an ex-noble, who gets him to pardon many enemies of the Republic' She accompanied Tallien when he went to Paris to justify his conduct, only to be imprisoned on Robespierre's orders first in La Force prison, then in Carmes prison where she met Joséphine de Beauharnais. Tallien was one of the chief organisers of the Thermidorian Reaction which overthrew Robespierre. On the same day, 27 July 1794 (9 Thermidor) Tallien had Theresa and Joséphine de Beauharnais freed from prison and became one of the leading figures in French political life. Thérésa was a moderating influence on her husband: after the outbreak of the Thermidorian Reaction, she earned the moniker 'Our Lady of Thermidor' () as the person who was most likely to intervene in favor of the detained.
Pregnant with their daughter, she married Tallien on 26 December 1794. Their marriage was relatively short-lived however as Theresa began divorce proceedings against Tallien in February 1797. Tallien accompanied Napoleon to Egypt but was captured by the British on his voyage back to France and held prisoner. On his release in 1802, the divorce was finalised.
Thérésa became one of the leaders of Parisian social life. Her salon was famous and she was one of the originators of the Greek Revival Directoire style women's fashions of the French Directory period. She was a very colorful figure; one story is that she was said to bathe in the juice of strawberries for their healing properties. whose former mistress was Napoleon's first wife Joséphine; then to the millionaire speculator Gabriel-Julien Ouvrard (with whom she had five children); - he had become the sixteenth Prince of Chimay after the death of his childless uncle in 1804. She spent the rest of her life first in Paris, then on the Chimay estates
Thérésa died in Chimay, where she was interred with François-Joseph de Riquet under the sacristy of the local church where a memorial stands to her memory.
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