The illustrious membership singer, born on August 23, 1931, glided by the stage identify Coccinelle.
Labelled a male at start, Coccinelle was the primary identified French particular person to endure sex-reassignment surgical procedure in Europe after World Conflict I.
Right here’s what you must know in regards to the transgender celeb’s legacy.
Who’s Jacqueline Charlotte Dufresnoy?
Born in Paris, Jacqueline-Charlotte Dufresnoy was mentioned to have skilled emotions of gender dysphoria from the age of 4.
She took the stage identify Coccinelle, that means ladybug, after her showgirl debut in 1953 at Chez Madame Arthur, a drag cabaret which was restored and reopened in 2015 as Le Divan du Monde.
She later turned a daily act at Le Carrousel de Paris, a nightclub that hosted different well-known trans performers together with Merie-Pier Ysser, stage identify Bambi, and April Ashley – one of many earliest British girls to face the identical surgical procedure.
Coccinelle determined to have sex-reassignment surgical procedure in 1958, carried out by Dr Georges Burou in Casablanca.
Talking of the operation, she mentioned: “After the operation, the physician simply mentioned, ‘Bonjour, Mademoiselle,’ and I knew it had been a hit.”
Earlier than the age of 30, the singer made additional historical past together with her marriage to French journalist Francis Bonnet.
Their union was the primary marriage of a trans particular person to be recognised by the French authorities – and the Catholic church that re-baptised her as Jacqueline.
Though Coccinelle went on to marry twice extra, this marked a second in historical past that set the precedent for the authorized proper to marry for trans individuals in France.
Activism was not central to her adolescence and works, however later in life she based Devenir Femme, an organisation that means to ‘To Turn into Girl’. She additionally helped set up the Heart for Help, Analysis and Data for Transsexuality and Gender Identification.
Struggling a stroke in the summertime of 2006, Coccinelle died shortly after on October 9, in Marseille.
What films was Coccinelle in?
Coccinelle’s first movie after her return to France was Alessandro Blasetti’s Europa di Notte (1959).
Main stardom adopted after Italian artist Ghigo Agosti devoted a music to the cabaret star referred to as Coccinella, in the identical yr.
In 1962, she starred in Los Viciosos, an Argentine thriller, and in 1968, the Spanish romance Dias de Viejo Coloration.
She additionally constructed a famend singing profession, starting with the title monitor of Premier Rendez-Vous, Henri Decoin’s 1941 movie.
Her autobiography was printed in 1987, titled Coccinelle par Coccinelle, and detailed her rise to stardom and a lifetime of activism.
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