Jacques Damala

Jacques Damala was a Greek military officer-turned-actor, who is mostly remembered as being the husband of the famous actress Sarah Bernhardt for a number of years. He was born in Piraeus, Greece, to a wealthy and aristocratic family. He pursued diplomatic studies in England and France, and became a military attaché to the Greek Diplomatic Corps. He was known for his handsome appearance and his notorious social life, as he seduced many women of high society in Paris, causing scandals and tragedies. He met Sarah Bernhardt in 1882 and married her shortly after, despite their age difference of 20 years. He became her manager and co-star, but also her tormentor, as he was addicted to drugs, alcohol, and gambling. He squandered Bernhardt's fortune and reputation, and was unfaithful to her with other women. He also suffered from tuberculosis and syphilis, which worsened his health and behavior. He died in 1889, at the age of 34, from an overdose of morphine and cocaine, in a hotel room in Paris. Bernhardt was devastated by his death, and sculpted a funerary portrait of him in marble, which is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Damala's characterisation by modern researchers is far from positive. He is seen as an opportunistic and hedonistic person, whose marriage to the great diva intensified and maximised his vices, namely, his vanity and obsession with women, alcohol, and drugs.