Marie Tussaud 1761 – 1850

Biography

Marie Tussaud was born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, France, and learned wax modelling as a child from Philippe Curtius, a physician skilled in anatomical waxwork. She created her first figure, of Voltaire, at sixteen and became art tutor to the sister of King Louis XVI at Versailles. During the French Revolution she was imprisoned and forced to make death masks of executed aristocrats, including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. After marrying François Tussaud, she toured Britain with her collection for more than thirty years before opening her first permanent exhibition in London in 1835. The waxworks museum she founded became one of the world’s most famous attractions. She died in London in 1850. Her museum survived fire, war, and changing tastes, growing into a global chain of attractions that still bears her name today.