WIRTH, valet of the banker, J.-B. d’Aldrigger; remained in the service of Mesdames d’Aldrigger, mother and daughters, after the death of the head of the family. He showed them the same devotion, of which he had often given proof. Wirth was a kind of Alsatian Caleb or Gaspard, aged and serious, but with much of the cunning mingled with his simple nature. Seeing in Godefroid de Beaudenord a good husband for Isaure d’Aldrigger, he was able to entrap him easily, and thus was partly responsible for their marriage. The Firm of Nucingen.
WISCH (Johann). Fictitious name given in a newspaper for Johann Fischer, when he had been accused of peculation. Cousin Betty.
WISSEMBOURG (Prince de), one of the titles of Marechal Cottin, the Duc d’Orfano. Cousin Betty.
WITSCHNAU. (See Gaudin.)
X
XIMEUSE, fief situated in Lorraine; original spelling of the name Simeuse, which came to to be written with an S on account of its pronunciation. The Gondreville Mystery.
Y
YSEMBOURG (Prince d’), marshal of France, the Conde of the Republic. Madame Nourrisson, his confidential servant, looked upon him as a “simpleton,” because he gave two thousand francs to one of the most renowned countesses of the Imperial Court, who came to him one day, with streaming eyes, begging him to give her the assistance upon which her children’s life depended. She soon spent the money for a robe, which she needed to wear so as to be dressed stylishly at an embassy ball. This story was told by Madame Nourrisson, in 1845, to Leon de Lora, Bixiou, and Gazonal. The Unconscious Humorists.
Z
ZAMBINELLA, a eunuch, who sang at the Theatre Argentina, Rome, the leading soprano parts; he was very beautiful. Sarassine, a French sculptor, believing him to be a woman, became enamored of him, and used him as a model for an excellent statue of Adonis, which may still be seen at the Musee d’Albani, and which Dorlange-Sallenauve copied nearly a century later. When he was over eighty years old and very wealthy, Zambinella lived, under the Restoration, with his niece, who was wife of the mysterious Lanty. While residing with the Lantys Zambinella died in Rome, 1830. The early life of Zambinella was unknown to the Parisian world. A mesmerist believed the old man, who was a sort of traveling mummy, to be the famous Balsamo, also known as Cagliostro, while the Bailli de Ferette took him to be the Comte de Saint-Germain. Sarrasine. The Member for Arcis.
ZARNOWICKI (Roman*), Polish general who, as a refugee in Paris, lived on the ground floor of the little two-story house on rue de Marbeuf, of which Doctor Halpersohn occupied the other floor in 1836. The Seamy Side of History.
* Probably a given name.
Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Paris — Balzac’s final resting place
Balzac’s grave
Works of Honore De Balzac Page 1605
