Introduction
Revered for her beauty and exceptional singing voice, Camille Monfort was the ultimate French, Victorian, sex symbol. Dubbed the Amazonian Vampire for her pale skin and late-night walks, she drove men crazy and wives to ultimate jealousy with her goddess beauty. An outstanding opera singer who captivated a theatre audience. A voice that made Camille a wealthy woman and able to enjoy the trappings of a luxurious lifestyle. A woman who people believed had champagne baths and danced through the streets in the afternoon in the rain.
The Shroud of Mystery
Born in 1869 in France, Camille Monfort came from a privileged upbringing. Her father, Henri was a French diplomat and Consulate-General of France in Belem, the capital city of Para in Brazil. Her mother, Marie was a French aristocrat who was related to the Royal family of Orleans. The family moved to Brazil in 1876 where her elder brothers Louis and Charles followed in their father’s diplomatic footsteps. Practicing Roman Catholics, little is known about Camille’s early life but it is thought that she became a governess. Learned in the history and culture of Brazil.
Standing at five feet five inches tall, Camille was a slender woman with a free spirit and an independent aura. Someone who lived a short life but lived by her own rules. A woman who loved love and numerous affairs with married men including barons, politicians, journalists and diplomats. A sultry world whose doors were opened by her father’s occupation. A woman of mystery who soon became branded as a vampire, hypnotising her men with her mesmerising voice. A myth that was probably spread by jealous wives who thought their husbands were having an affair with her.
Camille’s voice would cause audience members to faint from the strong emotions that it evoked. People actually believed that she could communicate with the dead and release their spirits into mists of ectoplasmic matter, which the young woman would expel from her body during a mediumistic session. A time when Brazil was just starting out on the Spiritualist movement and one that was practised in the palaces of Belem by mysterious cults.
A talented opera singer, Camille studied music at the Conservatoire De Paris. She learnt to play the piano, guitar and the violin. She travelled Europe, performing in theatres and salons. A woman with immense beauty and an independent and rebellious spirit. She wore fashionable and provocative clothes. She smoked, rode horses and drove cars. Her lovers showered her with gifts but she never settled for one. A lady who has inspired art, literature, novels, songs and a number of films. She died at the age of 25 in Belem after a wave of cholera spread through the city at the end of 1896. She is buried in the Cemetery of Solitude in Batz-sur-Mer, France where people still come to this day to pay their respects to the Amazonian Vampire.
