Odette

Overview

Odette, Mme Odette Randouin-Berthier, née Gontré (the Mon Journal indexes spell the maiden name Gontié in t.12–13 and Gontré in t.14–16: «Randouin-Berthier (Mme Odette), née Gontré»), wife of Alexandre Randouin-Berthier, a friend of the Gavinis in Paris society from 1878 to 1883 (existing RSR at 100.0140). Marie calls her «la belle Odette» and notes in February 1883 that «Odette a quarante ans mais encore belle» (098.0259).

Relevance to Marie

Stub replaced. Identification from the RSR at 100.0140 and the Mon Journal indexes. The t.13 index also has «Delattre (Mme) Odette: 340» for the page of 089.0470, where Marie writes «son époux Delattre»; since 089.0010 gossips that Delattre is the child's father, the 'husband' there may be Marie's mistake or the indexer's. 087.0436 «le mari d'Odette» and 091.0408 «Odette (Randouin !)» confirm the Randouin marriage. The stub MME_RANDOUIN was merged here on 2026-10-22; RANDOUIN is the family entry.

References in Diary

She belongs to the trio of Mme Gavini's friends, «Adeline, Odette et Valentine» (085.0583). Gavini had told Marie in October 1878 that Odette wished to meet her (082.0551). In 1879 she is annoyed over the seating in a drive (085.0251); in May 1880 she is «grosse comme une maison», her husband has broken a leg and fire has broken out in the flat (088.0209), and in June 1880 she has a boy — «On dit que l'enfant est de M. Delattre. La belle Odette a fait tout ce qu'elle a pu pour faire fortune et n'a pas réussi» (089.0010). In September 1880, at the tzigane café, she is with her husband and Montgomery and asks Marie in a whisper whether she is marrying Saint-Amand (089.0470). She is a regular at the Bashkirtseffs' Saturdays (091.0408, 091.0453), sings «avec goût quoique essoufflée» (095.0048), gives a party that Marie's family attends in April 1883 (099.0149), and visits as late as December 1883 (102.0507).

Merged entry MME_RANDOUIN

The paragraphs that call her «Mme Randouin» are tagged here: in Nice under the Empire «régnèrent les Randouin» (075.0465); on 5 October 1878 at the Exposition, «Mme Randouin, qui était sous-préfète du temps où les Gavini faisaient si grandement les honneurs» introduces herself, «peut avoir trente-cinq ans tout au plus» and is «tout à fait belle» (082.0548–082.0552); and her presence in the Gavini circle from 1879 to 1883 (084.0068, 095.0044, 095.0075, 095.0139, 098.0210, 098.0242, 098.0351, 099.0123, 099.0200). Her mother is Mme Jide (095.0044, 103.0116). «Odette (Randouin !)» (091.0408) and «Adeline, Odette et Valentine» for «Mmes Gavini, Randouin et Pernety» (085.0583) settle the identity.