Chanel Lessons

In the charity hospital run by the Sisters of Providence (a poorhouse) in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, abrielle Bonheur Chanel was born in 1883 to Eugénie Jeanne Devolle Chanel, known as Jeanne, a laundrywoman. She was Jeanne’s second child with Albert Chanel; her first child, Julia, had been born only a year before. Albert Chanel was a nomadic street vendor who sold work clothing and undergarments: 27 moving between market towns. The family was housed in run-down quarters. He married Jeanne Devolle[9] in 1884, after being convinced by her family, who had “combined, effectively, to pay Albert.”