X
XIMEUSE, fief situated in Lorraine; original spelling of the name
Simeuse, which came to to be written with an S on account of its
pronunciation. [The Gondreville Mystery.]
Y
YSEMBOURG (Prince d'), marshal of France, the Conde of the Republic.
Madame Nourrisson, his confidential servant, looked upon him as a
"simpleton," because he gave two thousand francs to one of the most
renowned countesses of the Imperial Court, who came to him one day,
with streaming eyes, begging him to give her the assistance upon which
her children's life depended. She soon spent the money for a robe,
which she needed to wear so as to be dressed stylishly at an embassy
ball. This story was told by Madame Nourrisson, in 1845, to Leon de
Lora, Bixiou, and Gazonal. [The Unconscious Humorists.]
Z
ZAMBINELLA, a eunuch, who sang at the Theatre Argentina, Rome, the
leading soprano parts; he was very beautiful. Sarassine, a French
sculptor, believing him to be a woman, became enamored of him, and
used him as a model for an excellent statue of Adonis, which may still
be seen at the Musee d'Albani, and which Dorlange-Sallenauve copied
nearly a century later. When he was over eighty years old and very
wealthy, Zambinella lived, under the Restoration, with his niece, who
was wife of the mysterious Lanty. While residing with the Lantys
Zambinella died in Rome, 1830. The early life of Zambinella was
unknown to the Parisian world. A mesmerist believed the old man, who
was a sort of traveling mummy, to be the famous Balsamo, also known as
Cagliostro, while the Bailli de Ferette took him to be the Comte de
Saint-Germain. [Sarrasine. The Member for Arcis.]
ZARNOWICKI (Roman[*]), Polish general who, as a refugee in Paris,
lived on the ground floor of the little two-story house on rue de
Marbeuf, of which Doctor Halpersohn occupied the other floor in 1836.
[The Seamy Side of History.]
[*] Probably a given name.