Valérie Simonin

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Valérie Simonin, born Wilhelmine-Joséphine Simonin on 19 December 1831 in Paris, was a French actress and writer. She studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1850, won first prize for comedy in 1852, and soon performed at the Odeon. From 1853 to 1859 she was a board member of the Comédie Française. In 1859 she left the stage and moved to London to live with her mother and help restore old books, a skill she learned from her father.

She married Gustave Eugene Fould and had two children, Consuelo and Georges. Returning to France in 1864, she turned to writing under the pseudonym Gustave Haller. Her novels include L’enfer des Femmes, Le diagnostic, Le professeur d’amour and Sternina. After being widowed in 1884, she married George Știrbei. Valérie Simonin died on 25 June 1919 in Pontaillac.