Henriette Caillaux

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Family

Parisian socialite, murderer, and the wealthy second wife of Joseph Caillaux, the former Prime Minister of France who served as PM from 1911 to 1912. While serving as Minister of Finance in the government of France, Monsieur Caillaux came under bitter attack from his political foes. The editor of the Le Figaro newspaper, Gaston Calmette, had been a severe critic. Henriette Caillaux believed that Calmette would publish private letters that would demonstrate that Caillaux and she had had intimate relationships while he was still married to his first wife. Shortly after 6pm on 16 March 1914, she shot Calmette at the Parisian offices of Le Figaro while Calmette was in the company of his friend, the novelist Paul Bourget. Calmette was hit four times and was critically wounded. Henriette Caillaux made no attempt to escape and newspaper workers in adjoining offices quickly summoned a doctor and the police. She refused to be transported to the police headquarters in a police van, insisting on being driven there by her chauffeur in her own car, which was still parked outside. The police agreed to this and she was formally charged upon reaching the headquarters. Gaston Calmette died six hours after being shot. Henriette Caillaux's trial dominated French public life; many of the participants were among the most powerful members of French society. She was defended by the prominent attorney Fernand Labori who convinced the jury that her crime, which she did not deny, was not a premeditated act but that her uncontrollable female emotions resulted in a crime of passion. The belief that women were not as strong emotionally as men resulted in her acquittal on 28 July 1914. She died on 29 January 1943, aged 68. Link to Wikipedia biography