Delait, Clémentine, 1865-1939

Clémentine Delait (née Clattaux; 5 March 1865 – 5 April 1939) was a French café owner, entertainer and bearded lady. After allowing her beard to grow in 1900, she transformed her café in Thaon-les-Vosges into a popular attraction, selling souvenir postcards and becoming widely known in France during the early twentieth century. Following the death of her husband in 1928, Delait devoted herself to touring, appearing in Paris, London, Belfast, Vienna, Berlin and Amsterdam, as well as in Africa and South America. Delait became widely known for her carefully cultivated public image. She obtained official permission to wear men's clothing in 1904, posed for more than 70 promotional postcards in both masculine and feminine dress, and staged publicity events including entering a lion cage at a fair in Thaon-les-Vosges. Contemporary writers described her as "the most illustrious and celebrated bearded lady in France" and "the perfect example of a bearded lady". A museum dedicated to Delait was established in Thaon-les-Vosges in the 1970s.