DAVID-NEEL Alexandra (D-18)

Belgian–French explorer, spiritualist, Buddhist, anarchist, opera singer, and writer. At the suggestion of her father, David-Néel attended the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, where she studied piano and singing. To help her parents who were experiencing setbacks, David-Néel, who had obtained a first prize for singing, took the position of first singer at the Hanoi Opera House (Indochina) during the seasons 1895–1896 and 1896–1897 under the name Alexandra Myrial. She interpreted the role of the Violetta in La Traviata (by Verdi), then she sang in Les Noces de Jeannette (by Victor Massé), in Faust and in Mireille (by Gounod), Lakmé (by Léo Delibes), Carmen (by Bizet), and Thaïs (by Massenet). From 1897 to 1900, she was living together with the pianist Jean Haustont in Paris, then she left to sing at the opera of Athens from November 1899 to January 1900. Then, in July of the same year, she went to the opera of Tunis, where  she gave up her singing career in favor of artistic direction of the casino of Tunis.