10. Lola Montez (February 17, 1821-January 17, 1861)
The Irish actress and dancer Lola Montez became a courtesan and the mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. She was the daughter of an Irish MP, and she was raised in India, Scotland, and England before eloping with a lieutenant when she was 16 years old. Five years later, she abandoned her husband and became a professional dancer under a stage name in Calcutta. Moving to London where she made her dancing debut as Lola Montez, she was recognized as a married woman, which resulted in a scandal. The notoriety ruined her reputation, so she moved to Europe.
When she arrived on the continent, she performed in various European capitals while openly accepting favors from a few wealthy men, earning a reputation as a courtesan. She had a disappointing debut as a dancer in Paris in 1844, where she met and had an affair with Franz Liszt. He introduced her to the circle of George Sand. She settled in Paris, where she was known in the Bohemian literary circle of the time.
In 1846, Lola moved to Munich, where she met Ludwig I of Bavaria and soon became his mistress. He lavished her with attention and gifts and set her up in a palace in Munich. Lola was incredibly arrogant and had a bad temper, which made her very unpopular with the Bavarian people. She also used her influence on Ludwig to get what she wanted from him: respectability. She wanted a title; he made her the Countess of Landsfeld in 1847.
Lola used her new power and titles to institute liberal reforms in the Bavarian government. Ludwig indulged his mistress, letting her do whatever she wanted. By 1848, Lola’s influence didn’t help Ludwig’s popularity. The revolutions that were sweeping across Europe that year made Lola flee the country and Ludwig abdicate his throne to his son Maximilian. Lola spent the rest of her life traveling around the world telling her stories and died from syphilis in 1861.
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