Madame Tussaud (Favorite Entrepreneur)

Sitting in my business classes, it is abundantly clear that women are not nearly as prominent in the business world as men. When this assignment came up, I was determined to write about a female entrepreneur. So I googled famous women entrepreneurs and I found entry after entry of biographies for Mary Kay Ash, Coco Chanel, Estee Lauder, and the occasional Debbi Fields.

I was disappointed that the only female innovators I could find were in cosmetics and cookies. I continued looking and found entries for Oprah Winfrey and Jenna Jameson. Although I respect what they each have accomplished, neither was really what I had in mind. I finally stumbled upon Marie Tussaud. I chose her, because even though she was neither American nor from the 21st century, I was inspired by her innovation, determination, and creativity.

Marie Tussaud was born Marie Grosholtz, on December 1, 1761. Her father was killed in the Seven Year’s War two months before she was born. To support her family, her mother worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Phillipe Curtis. Dr. Curtis was a physician, who modeled in wax to illustrate anatomy.

When Tussaud was older, Curtis taught her the art of wax modeling and she immediately showed talent for the work. Her first wax figure was of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In 1780, Tussaud was invited to live at Versailles and teach art to the sister of Louis XVI.

She stayed at the palace until the French Revolution broke out. Although she knew many of the important figures in the Revolution, her ties to the Royal family led to her arrest. She was scheduled to go to the guillotine and had even had her head shaved to prepare for it, when her niche market literally saved her life.

The Revolutionaries decided that her talent at wax modeling was needed to create death masks of the other victims of the guillotine and spared her. She was then forced to make death masks from the decapitated heads, many those of her former friends. She made masks of Marie Antoinette, Louis XVI, Marat, and Robespierre.

Dr. Curtis died in 1794 and left his entire collection to Tussaud. A year later she married Francois Tussaud and they had two sons together. But their marriage was unsuccessful and Marie decided to take her works on tour. She travelled to London to exhibit her collection and while there the Napoleonic Wars broke out and she was unable to return to Paris.

Marie Tussaud decided to open her own permanent exhibit in 1833. Called simply Madame Tussaud’s, this popular tourist attraction still exists today, although not in its original location. It has also had satellite locations open globally.

Currently, Madame Tussaud’s is primarily known for the wax replicas of celebrities. This was also a feature during Tussaud’s, but the most poplar exhibit when the museum first opened was its sideshow, known as the Chamber of Horrors. The name was created by a local publication, but Marie Tussuad saw its marketing potential and began to use the phrase herself.

Facts and Figures collected from:

http://www.nndb.com/people/292/000113950/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Tussaud

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Marie-Tussaud