Agnès Souret

Biography

Agnes Souret was born Jeanne Germaine Berthe Agnès Souret on January 21, 1902 in Bayonne, France. Her father was a lawyer and mother had been a professional ballet dancer. When she was a teenager she worked as a milliner's assistant. In 1920 a friend encouraged her to enter a local beauty contest. The lovely brunette was chosen as the very first Miss France. Winning made her an overnight celebrity and she was called the "most beautiful woman in France". Agnes starred in the films House Of The Hanged and The Lily Of Mont Saint-Michel. Then she danced at the Follies Bergere in Paris. By 1921 she had become so famous that she had to wear disguises when she went out in public. She became engaged to her childhood sweetheart but tragically he committed suicide. When a Hollywood studio offered her a lucrative movie contract she turned it down. Agnes said "My brief reign has ended. There is not money or fame enough in the world to make up for a price a woman must pay when she sells her beauty on the stage and screen." In 1922 she published a book called The Famous Book Of Beauty Secrets. She continued dancing and performed in London and Monte Carlo. During the Fall of 1928 she went on a tour of Argentina. Sadly on September 30, 1928 she died from peritonitis at the young age of twenty-six. Agnes was buried in Espelette, France.