DEATH OF GENEVIEVE DE FONTENAY. Geneviève de Fontenay, former patroness of Miss France, died on Wednesday August 2, 2023.
11:51 – The funeral will take place in Paris
TF1/LCI advance, from a family source, that the funeral of Geneviève de Fontenay will be held in Paris and that she will be buried in the family vault. At this time, no date has yet been announced.
11:38 – Hospitality and beautician training before competitions
Before embarking on beauty contests, Geneviève de Fontenay first trained at the hotel school in Strasbourg, tells Le Point, and trained to become a beautician. She was also a model at Balenciaga.
11:27 – Has Geneviève de Fontenay ever been Miss France?
No. Geneviève de Fontenay never won the competition she ran. On the other hand, in 1957, she was elected Miss Elegance, one of the many other existing beauty contests.
11:26 – Jean-Pierre Foucault: “It’s common knowledge that we fried from time to time!”
Iconic presenter of the election of Miss France, Jean-Pierre Foucault reacted this Wednesday August 2 to the announcement of the death of Geneviève de Fontenay, the former boss of the Miss France committee. “We can only be sad. She was the essential character of the Miss France election, he confided to the antenna of BFM TV. “But she had her little character, it was notoriety public that she and I, we fried from time to time because she did not agree on certain points and developments that we, on television, wanted to bring to the Miss France contest. The fact remains that she was an extremely popular woman and as soon as we went into a city, as soon as a tip of her hat pointed, it was thunderous applause.
11:22 – 56 years old at the heart of the Miss France committee
While she chaired the committee for 29 years, her history with the organization is much longer. It was in 1954 that she joined it, as general secretary, before climbing the ladder, until her departure. A story that lasted 56 years.
11:20 – President of Miss France for 29 years
Geneviève de Fontenay is especially famous for having been president of the Miss France committee, the association responsible for organizing the miss competitions, until the big national election. She was the head of the organization from 1981 to 2010.
11:17 – She was going to celebrate her 91st birthday
Died Tuesday evening, Geneviève de Fontenay would, at the end of the month, celebrate her 91st birthday, she who was born on August 30, 1932.
11:17 – Alexia Laroche-Joubert: “A woman with a sacred character”
The president of the company Miss France Alexia Laroche-Joubert, confided at length on BFM TV shortly after the announcement of the death of Geneviève de Fontenay. “I spent incredible moments with her, she reacted. “It upsets me, I went to see her in her apartment in Saint-Cloud 6 months ago. She received me with her hat, we had a little drink together. I am very touched. She was a woman with a strong character, a popular image, who criss-crossed France. She knew every corner of it and she allowed young women to access a dream. She was an independent woman, she favored the independence of women.”
11:15 – Alexia Laroche-Joubert “She was a feminist”.
Alexia Laroche-Joubert, president of the Miss France committee, reacted to the announcement of the death of Geneviève de Fontenay this Wednesday. “It really touches me, I had the chance to work with her for 3-4 years when I was at Endemol,” she told BFM TV. “I saw her act, I saw the personal investment she had. When we talk about her, we often say that she ironed the dresses of the Misses behind the scenes… Me, I saw her do it with her iron and her ironing board. She is a woman to whom we owe a lot. She has always been with the young women she has defended. I know it makes you scream but she was a feminist. Like the contest is. I had an amazing time with her.”
11:14 – Geneviève de Fontenay died of cardiac arrest
Xavier, the son of Geneviève de Fontenay, specifies to TF1/LCI that his mother died “of cardiac arrest in his sleep”, Tuesday, at 11 p.m., at his home in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine).
11:08 – She didn’t publicly use her real name
Geneviève de Fontenay was not the true identity of the former boss of Miss France. Born Geneviève Suzanne Marie Thérèse Mulmann, she added the pseudonym “de Fontenay” after meeting her companion, Louis Poirot, who would have used the pseudonym “de Fontenay” during the Resistance. This then continued, to the point that Geneviève Mulmann – who was not married – also attached this surname to her name.
11:04 – “The Lady in the Hat”
Geneviève de Fontenay was known for her unique style of dress. Always wearing a hat, the latter, white and with black stripes, has made her reputation. To the point that she was nicknamed “the Lady in the Hat”.
11:00 – She was a mother of two children
During her life, Geneviève de Fontenay had two children: Ludovic, born in 1954 and who killed himself in 1984, as well as Xavier, born in 1961.
10:55 – His health was “gradually declining”
If no real health problem was known to him, Geneviève de Fontenay had confided, in a letter published in December 2020, that “at the dawn of my centenary, my health is gradually declining.” In 2022, she spoke again on this subject, in France Sunday : “I have this bit of osteoarthritis in my knees, but that’s it. I would even say that it’s quite banal. And contrary to what some people claim, I did not have a stroke, and all my major organs are in very good condition.”
10:50 – Geneviève de Fontenay is dead
Geneviève de Fontenay is dead announced her son to TF1/LCIthis Wednesday, August 2, 2023. She was 90 years old.
Born on August 30, 1932 in Longwy in Meurthe et Moselle, Geneviève de Fontenay saw her life linked to a competition: that of Miss France. After entering a hotel school in Strasbourg and then a school of aesthetics in Paris, she met Louis Poirot, known as “de Fontenay” (his name during the Resistance) in 1952. Her life changed dramatically. The couple will have two sons, Ludovic and Xavier. At his side, she became secretary of the Miss France committee in 1954 and became the contest’s handywoman. Communication, stewardship, costume… She manages everything in the shadow of her husband then takes the reins of the competition on the death of Louis De Fontenay in 1981. She involves her son Xavier who takes on the role of director of the company.
Miss France gained national recognition with the first television broadcast of the contest in 1986 with Guy Lux at the helm of the show. The 1990s were a peak, the election went into prime time from 1995 and became one of the most watched shows, with audiences exceeding 10 and then 15 million viewers. In 2002, however, the company was sold to Endemol and dissension quickly arose. Geneviève de Fontenay is gradually pushed aside and ends up leaving Miss France in 2011.
She will launch a dissident contest the following year without ever managing to overshadow Miss France. She will finally bow out in 2016 but still roams the TV sets for a few years, especially in the programs of Laurent Ruquier, Cyril Hanouna or Thierry Ardisson. Having become discreet in her last years, she had rare news as she approached her 90th birthday in 2022, denying health concerns.