I’m talking about the history of Madame Tussauds museums. I assumed it was French. That was about all I knew. If you’d have asked me, I’d have guessed it was probably started sometime in the early to mid 20th century.

But, I saw this interesting video linked at the bottom of this post and to my surprise I learned that the actual Madame Tussaud was born in the 18th century and was imprisoned during the French Revolution! Who knew? She immigrated to England and took her collection of life-size, life-like wax figures with her.

So, I looked her up and here’s what I now know:

Marie Tussaud was born as Marie Grosholtz in 1761. Her mother had worked for Philippe Curtius, a physician with a skill in wax modeling., in Switzerland. When the doctor moved to Paris, Marie and her mother followed. In time, the doctor taught Marie how to model a wax figure and she
created her first wax sculpture, of Voltaire, in 1777. At 17, according to her memoirs, she became art tutor to Madame Elizabeth, the sister of King Louis XVI. During the French Revolution, she was imprisoned for three months, but was subsequently released. During and after the Revolution, she made models of many prominent victims.

Marie inherited Curtius’ vast collection of wax models following his death in 1794. For the next 33 years, she travelled around Europe with a touring exhibit from the collection. She married Francois Tussaud in 1795 and renamed her show as Madame Tussaud’s. In 1802 she accepted an invitation from lantern and phantasmagoria pioneer Paul Philidor to exhibit her work alongside his show at the Lyceum Theatre, London. She did not fare particularly well financially, as Philidor took half of her profits.

Unable to return to France because of the Napoleonic Wars, she travelled throughout Great Britain and Ireland exhibiting her collection. By 1835, Marie Tussaud had settled down in London on Baker Street and opened a museum. One of her museum’s main attractions was the “Chamber of Horrors.” This part of the exhibition included victims of the French Revolution and newly created figures of murderers and other criminals. Other famous people were added, including Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Henry VIII, and Queen Victoria.

And that, in a nutshell, is how the famous attraction began. A smart woman made the most of her unusual skill and, surviving the French Revolution, took her show on the road.