Jean-Jacques Pradier (Geneva 1792-1852 Bougival)

Claire Pradier (1826-1846) was Pradier's illegitimate daughter by his model Juliette Gauvin (1806-1881), more commonly known as Juliette Drouet. Pradier at first refused to acknowledge his daughter, and sent her mother to Brussels to pursue her acting career. In 1833 Juliette returned to Paris and met Victor Hugo, who was to become her lifelong companion and a loving father to Claire. Hugo described her as 'douce Claire aux yeux noirs avec des cheveux blonds', and dedicated at least three poems to her after her early death from tuberculosis in 1846.