GRIMBERT, held, in 1819, at Ruffec, Charente, the office of the Royal
Couriers. At that time he received from Mlles. Laure and Agathe de
Rastignac, a considerable sum of money addressed to their brother
Eugene, at the Pension Vauquer, Paris. [Father Goriot.]
GRIMONT, born about 1786; a priest of some capability; cure of
Guerande, Brittany. In 1836, a constant visitor at the Guenics, he
exerted a tardily acquired influence over Felicite des Touches, whose
disappointments in love he fathomed and whom he determined to turn
towards a religious life. Her conversion gave Grimont the
vicar-generalship of the diocese of Nantes. [Beatrix.]
GRIMPEL, physician at Paris in the Pantheon quarter, time of Louis
XVIII. Among his patients was Mme. Vauquer, who sent for him to attend
Vautrin when the latter was overcome by a narcotic treacherously
administered by Mlle. Michonneau. [Father Goriot.]
GRINDOT, French architect in the first half of the nineteenth century;
won the Roman prize in 1814. His talent, which met the approval of the
Academy, was heartily recognized by the masses of Paris. About the end
of 1818 Cesar Birotteau gave him carte-blanche in the remodeling of
his apartments on rue Saint-Honore, and invited him to his ball.
Matifat, between the years 1821 and 1822, commissioned him to ornament
the suite of Mme. Raoul Nathan on rue de Bondy. The Comte de Serizy
employed him likewise in 1822 in the restoration of his chateau of
Presles near Beaumont-sur-Oise. About 1829 Grindot embellished a
little house on rue Saint-Georges where successively dwelt Suzanne
Gaillard and Esther van Gobseck. Time of Louis Philippe, Arthur de
Rochefide, and M. and Mme. Fabien du Ronceret gave him contracts. His
decline and that of the monarchy coincided. He was no longer in vogue
during the July government. On motion of Chaffaroux he received
twenty-five thousand francs for the decoration of four rooms of
Thuillier's. Lastly Crevel, an imitator and grinder, utilized Grindot
on rue des Saussaies, rue du Dauphin and rue Barbet-de-Jouy for his
official and secret habitations. [Cesar Birotteau. Lost Illusions. A
Distinguished Provincial at Paris. A Start in Life. Scenes from a
Courtesan's Life. Beatrix. The Middle Classes. Cousin Betty.]
GROISON, non-commissioned officer of cavalry in the Imperial Guard;
later, during the Restoraton, estate-keeper of Blangy, where he
succeeded Vaudoyer at a salary of three hundred francs. Montcornet,
mayor of that commune arranged a marriage between the old soldier and
the orphan daughter of one of his farmers who brought him three acres
of vineyards. [The Peasantry.]
GROS (Antoine-Jean), celebrated painter born in Paris in 1771, drowned
himself June, 1835. Was the teacher of Joseph Bridau and, despite his
parsimonious habits, supplied materials--about 1818--to the future
painter of "The Venetian Senator and the Courtesan" enabling him to
obtain five thousand francs from a double government position. [A
Bachelor's Establishment.]
GROSLIER, police commissioner of Arcis-sur-Aube at the beginning of
the electoral campaign of 1839. [The Member for Arcis.]
GROSMORT, small boy of Alencon in 1816. Left the town in that year and
went to Prebaudet, an estate of Mme. du Bousquier, to tell her of
Troisville's arrival. [Jealousies of a Country Town.]
GROSS-NARP (Comte de), son-in-law, no doubt fictitious, of a very
great lady, invented and represented by Jacqueline Collin to serve the
menaced interests of Jacques Collin in Paris about the end of the
Restoration. [Scenes from a Courtesan's Life.]
GROSSTETE (F.), director, with Perret, of a Limoges banking-house,
during the Empire and Restoration. His clerk and successor was Pierre
Graslin. Retired from business, a married man, wealthy, devoted to
horticulture, he spent much of his time in the fields in the outskirts
of Limoges. Endowed with a superior intellect, he seemed to understand
Veronique Graslin, whose society he sought and whose secrets he tried
to fathom. He introduced his godson, Gregoire Gerard, to her. [The
Country Parson.]
GROSSTETE (Madame F.), wife of preceding; a person of some importance
in Limoges, time of the Restoration. [The Country Parson.]
GROSSTETE, younger brother of F. Grosstete. Receiver-general at
Bourges during the Restoration. He had a large fortune which enabled
his daughter Anna to wed a Fontaine about 1823. [The Country Parson.
The Muse of the Department.]
GROZIER (Abbe) was chosen, in the early part of the Restoration, to
arbitrate the dispute of two proof-readers--one of whom was Saint-Simon
--over Chinese paper. He proved that the Chinese make their paper
from bamboo. [Lost Illusions.] He was librarian of the Arsenal at
Paris. Was tutor of the Marquis d'Espard. Was learned in the history
and manners of China. Taught this knowledge to his pupil. [The
Commission in Lunacy.]*
* Abbe Grozier, or Crozier (Jean Baptiste-Gabriel-Alexandre), born
March 1, 1743, at Saint-Omer, died December 8, 1823, at Paris;
collaborator of the "Literary Year" with Freron and Geoffroy, and
author of a "General History of China"--Paris 1777-1784, 12 vols.
GRUGET (Madame Etienne), born in the latter part of the eighteenth
century. About 1820, lace-maker at No. 12 rue des Enfants-Rouges,
Paris, where she concealed and cared for Gratien Bourignard, the lover
of her daughter Ida, who drowned herself. Bourignard was the father of
Mme. Jules Desmarets. [The Thirteen.] Becoming a nurse about the end
of 1824, Mme. Gruget attended the division-chief, La Billiardiere, in
his final sickness. [The Government Clerks.] In 1828 she followed the
same profession for ten sous a day, including board. At that time she
attended the last illness of Comtesse Flore Philippe de Brambourg, on
rue Chaussee-d'Antin, before the invalid was removed to the Dubois
hospital. [A Bachelor's Establishment.]
GRUGET (Ida), daughter of the preceding. About 1820 was a corset-fitter
at No. 14 rue de la Corderie-du-Temple, Paris; employed by Mme.
Meynardie. She was also the mistress of Gatien Bourignard.
Passionately jealous, she rashly made a scene in the home of Jules
Desmarets, her lover's son-in-law. Then she drowned herself, in a fit
of despair, and was buried in a little cemetery of a village of
Seine-et-Oise. [The Thirteen.]
GUA SAINT-CYR (Madame du), in spite of the improbability aroused on
account of her age, passed for a time, in 1799, as the mother of
Alphonse de Montauran. She had been married and was then a widow; Gua
was not her true name. She was the last mistress of Charette and,
being still young, took his place with the youthful Alphonse de
Montauran. She displayed a savage jealousy for Mlle. de Verneuil. One
of the first Vendean sallies of 1799, planned by Mme. du Gua, was
unsuccessful and absurd. The old "mare of Charette" caused the coach
between Mayenne and Fougeres to be waylaid; but the money stolen was
that which was being sent her by her mother. [The Chouans.]
GUA SAINT-CYR (Du), name assumed in Brittany, in 1799, by Alphonse de
Montauran, the Chouan leader. [The Chouans.]
GUA SAINT-CYR (Monsieur and Madame du), son and mother; rightful
bearers of the name were murdered, with the courier, in November by
the Chouans. [The Chouans.]
GUDIN (Abbe), born about 1759; was one of the Chouan leaders in 1799.
He was a formidable fellow, one of the Jesuits stubborn enough,
perhaps devoted enough, to oppose upon French soil the proscriptive
edict of 1793. This firebrand of Western conflict fell, slain by the
Blues, almost under the eyes of his patriot nephew, the
sub-lieutenant, Gudin. [The Chouans.]
GUDIN, nephew of the preceding, and nevertheless a patriot conscript
from Fougeres, Brittany, during the campaign of 1799; successively
corporal and sub-lieutenant. The former grade was obtained through
Hulot. Was the superior of Beau-Pied. Gudin was killed near Fougeres
by Marie de Verneuil, who had assumed the attire of her husband,
Alphonse de Montauran. [The Chouans.]