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| Madame Claude: France's most famous brothel keeper dies | Madame Claude: France's most famous brothel keeper dies |
| (about 14 hours later) | |
| France's most notorious brothel keeper, who claimed to have supplied women to some of the world's most powerful men, has died aged 92. | France's most notorious brothel keeper, who claimed to have supplied women to some of the world's most powerful men, has died aged 92. |
| Madame Claude ran an exclusive brothel near the Champs Elysees in Paris, at one point managing more than 500 women. | Madame Claude ran an exclusive brothel near the Champs Elysees in Paris, at one point managing more than 500 women. |
| A former Resistance fighter, she was eventually found guilty of pimping in a trial in 1992. | A former Resistance fighter, she was eventually found guilty of pimping in a trial in 1992. |
| While she never named her clients, numerous reports over the years in France revealed a powerful roster. | While she never named her clients, numerous reports over the years in France revealed a powerful roster. |
| Among those named in French media were John F Kennedy, the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and actor Marlon Brando. | Among those named in French media were John F Kennedy, the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and actor Marlon Brando. |
| President Kennedy, one profile said, asked her for "a Jackie lookalike 'but hot.'" | President Kennedy, one profile said, asked her for "a Jackie lookalike 'but hot.'" |
| "There are two things that people will always pay for, food and sex," she is once reported to have said. "I wasn't any good at cooking." | "There are two things that people will always pay for, food and sex," she is once reported to have said. "I wasn't any good at cooking." |
| A profile of Madame Claude published in Vanity Fair magazine last year said the CIA had once hired women through her "to help keep up morale" during peace talks in Paris. | A profile of Madame Claude published in Vanity Fair magazine last year said the CIA had once hired women through her "to help keep up morale" during peace talks in Paris. |
| "She will take many state secrets with her," Claude Cances, a former Paris police chief, told AFP news agency. "She was a legend." | "She will take many state secrets with her," Claude Cances, a former Paris police chief, told AFP news agency. "She was a legend." |
| Born Fernande Grudet, she said she had been raised in a convent and spent time in a concentration camp, but both points were disputed in a 2010 documentary. | Born Fernande Grudet, she said she had been raised in a convent and spent time in a concentration camp, but both points were disputed in a 2010 documentary. |
| The French actress Francoise Fabian, who played Madame Claude in a 1977 film, told Vanity Fair she was "une femme terrible" (a frightful woman). | |
| "She despised men and women alike," Fabian said. | "She despised men and women alike," Fabian said. |
| In the mid-1970s, faced with prosecution for tax-related issues, she fled to Los Angeles, only to be jailed on her return to France. | In the mid-1970s, faced with prosecution for tax-related issues, she fled to Los Angeles, only to be jailed on her return to France. |
| She was also convicted of pimping in the early 1990s, but was judged to have served her time while spending six months in prison before her trial. | She was also convicted of pimping in the early 1990s, but was judged to have served her time while spending six months in prison before her trial. |
| Later, she moved to live in a small apartment in Nice in the south of France. French media say she died in a hospital in the city. | Later, she moved to live in a small apartment in Nice in the south of France. French media say she died in a hospital in the city. |