The family on the cover: the heirs of famous dynasties in the American Forbes. du Pont dynasty
Producer: Cedric Klapisch
A film about the French ballerina Aurelie Dupont, Etoile of the National Paris Opera (Paris Opera Ballet). Cédric Klapisch followed her for three years to make this documentary. The viewer has the opportunity to see an incredibly beautiful and talented woman on stage and backstage. Cedric Klapisch shows her constant love for dance, for her work, her desire for excellence, her need to go on stage. This is a story about hard everyday work, discipline, about the attitude to your body. This is a portrait of a woman, beautiful as a star, fresh as a rose, and hardy as a soldier. The director admires her complete dedication. But Aurelie Dupont is not only a talented ballerina, but also loving wife and mother. The film uses materials from the ballerina's personal archive, as well as excerpts from ballets where she performs the leading roles: Odile in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Marguerite in The Lady of the Camellias (choreography by J. Neumeier), Constanza in Angelin's Park Preljocaj, Raymonda in the ballet of the same name by A.K. Glazunov (choreography by R. Nureyev). (No translation, in French).
Usually ballerinas are more like “fluffs”, but Ulyana is a large ballerina. Her height is 178 centimeters, her foot size is 41. But with her talent she turned all the shortcomings into virtues - when you see her work on stage, she seems completely weightless. Thin, incredibly elegant and graceful, she usually embodies gentle and lyrical images, such as Giselle.
Prima ballerina " Bolshoi Theater", the owner of the Benois de la Danse award, known in the world as the Ballet Oscar. In 2008, she received the title of "etoile" (star) from Milan's "La Scala". She performs at the best ballet venues in the world and is distinguished by a wide range of roles - she succeeds in both lyrical and characteristic heroines.
Prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre, a very characteristic ballerina with a bright appearance and a very beautiful hair. She gained fame thanks to the solo number "Carmen", brilliantly coped with the role of Giselle, and with the most difficult part of Odette-Odile in the production of the American ballet theater. She performed the main parts on the stage of La Scala, Berlin state ballet and other theatres. Has several solo projects.
Another ballerina with rather atypical physical data - Polina has a fourth breast size, so the costumes for her performances are sewn taking into account her magnificent forms. Costume designers have to suffer before they figure out how to make sure that the chest does not interfere with dancing. But the audience from Polina Simeonova is delighted. Now she mainly dances in the USA and, by agreement, at the Mikhailovsky Theater.
The legendary French ballerina was retired in May, but we couldn't help mentioning her in our selection. The ballerina is 42 years old, but she is still very good. Aurélie joined the Grand Opera company under Rudolf Nureyev, at the age of 16, and stayed in it longer than all the ballerinas of her generation. The turning point in her career was working with the legendary German choreographer Pinou Bausch, who told her: “I chose you for your weakness, not your strength. It's your beauty." In the future, it was on this beautiful weakness that Aurélie emphasized.
Ekaterina Kondaurova
Prima of the Mariinsky Theatre. A ballerina with character, for which she was even compared with Maya Plisetskaya. Ekaterina seems to be created for a bright, passionate, dramatic dance. Incredibly flexible and graceful ballerina. Often performs works by contemporary choreographers. Just like Svetlana Zakharova, she is the owner of the ballet Oscar.
Prima ballerina of the Royal Ballet of Great Britain. Born in Bucharest, she studied ballet in Kyiv. After winning an international ballet competition, she received a scholarship to study at the Royal Ballet School, and later became its soloist. He loves to sing the part from Giselle. One of interesting roles- in the ballet "Eugene Onegin", where she plays the roles of both Tatyana and Olga.
Young prima of the Mariinsky. At the age of 18, she danced the part of Odette-Odile on the stage of the Vienna Opera. After 6 years, she danced in the same role on the stage of La Scala. A very technical, fast, flexible ballerina, she mainly devotes herself to classical ballet.
From Republicans to US Presidents, but also father of many children. His relationship with children can easily be called a partnership.
Trump's eldest daughter Ivanka is the executive vice president of her father's company, responsible for expanding the real estate part of his empire. She took part in the TV show "Candidate", manages her own jewelry company, wrote a book. Represents the Girl Up Foundation, recruiting American girls to participate in UN programs in third world countries. She graduated with honors from the Wharton Business School. She has been married to real estate heir Jared Kushner since 2009 and has three children.
Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., works with Ivanka in his father's company as executive vice president. True, in the media, his name pops up more often in connection with the birth of another child (38-year-old Trump Jr. became a father for the fifth time last year) than about making a successful deal.
Trump's second son, Eric, also works in his father's company. And here is his youngest daughter Tiffany did not want to participate in the family business, preferring a career as an actress, so far, however, not very successful. Trump's youngest son Barron is still only 10 years old, but he is already a frequent guest at Manhattan's secular parties, where he goes with his mother.
In the photo: the cover of the special issue of Forbes "400 the richest people America" 2006. On the cover—Donald Trump with daughter Ivanka and son Donald Trump Jr.
Ronald and Raymond Perelman
Raymond Perelman is the founder of metalworking company Belmont Industries. He tried to involve his son Ronald in the family business from the age of 11 - the boy was obliged to attend meetings of the board of directors and make his proposals. However, Ronald was not at all interested in metallurgy, but he passionately loved music. In the end, Raymond backed down and put another son, Geoffrey, in charge of his company. But a successful rock musician did not work out from Ronald, and he could no longer return to the company. In the end, he decided to open his own business - taking out loans for $ 1.9 million, he bought a chain of jewelry stores in New York. Perelman soon sold them for $15 million, earning more than $10 million from the operation after repaying a high-interest loan. Perelman liked this way of doing business and he began to buy up one undervalued company after another and soon became famous as a "corporate grabber". In 2016, Forbes estimated the fortune of 73-year-old Perelman at $12.1 billion.
Pictured: the cover of the 2011 Forbes special issue of America's 400 Richest People. On the cover—Ronald and Raymond Perelman.
Mallon family
Judge Thomas Mallon (died 1908) immigrated from Ireland in 1818 and made a fortune in real estate, loans and farming. His son Andrew Mallon (died 1937) was US Secretary of the Treasury and a prosperous banker and investor in companies such as Alcoa and Gulf Oil, among others. His heirs could not surpass a successful ancestor, but they kept the business afloat. Andrew's grandson Timothy is the owner of the New England Company. His great-nephew Richard Skaife (died 2014) ran a media company in Western Pennsylvania that publishes the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review newspaper. He donated most of his fortune to charity. Now the family is represented by Matthew Mallon, a venture capitalist. AT Forbes ranking of the richest families in 2015, the Mallons ranked 21st, the magazine estimated their wealth at $11.5 billion.
Pictured: The cover of Forbes' "America's Richest Families" July 2014 issue. On the cover—Matthew Mallon with his wife and children.
Erme dynasty
Axel Dumas is the director of the Hermès house and the sixth generation of the Hermé dynasty. Hermès has managed to become the most influential company in the luxury market, over the past five years, the company's shares have grown by 175%. According to Forbes, at least five of the clan members in the Hermès management structure are on the list of billionaires. The total fortune of the Dumas family exceeds $ 25 billion - more than the Rockefellers, Mallons and Fords combined.
In 1837, the saddler Thierry Herme founded his own workshop in Paris. The beau monde of that time needed a reliable horse harness on trips and travels. And the quality and beauty of Erme's bridles and harness turned out to be unsurpassed. Tieri had The only son, Charles-Emile, who moved the company to 24 Faubourg Saint-Honoré, where it remains to this day. Charles-Emile, in turn, had two sons - Adolf and Emile-Maurice, who renamed the company Hermès Frères (Herme Brothers). However, at a certain point, Adolf decided that the prospects for the company in the era of cars, not horses, were not very bright, and left the company to Emil. Emil, on the other hand, had four daughters (one of whom died in 1920) - which explains why among those who are now involved in managing this family business, there is no one named Erme. Now the company is run by descendants in the fifth and sixth generations.
During the time of Axel Dumas' uncle, Jean-Louis Dumas, who was CEO from 1978 to 2006, most of the family management structure of the company has been transformed into a "matryoshka doll" of six holdings included in each other. On top of it all was an intricate two-tier control structure designed by Jean-Louis. New system management helped Hermès to publicly list 4% of its shares on the stock exchange in 1993, which, on the one hand, allowed the new generation to turn assets into cash, and on the other hand, retain control in the hands of the family. The new budget allowed Hermès to step out of its role as a leather goods manufacturer. Jean-Louis Dumas expanded the scope of activities by launching the production of men's ready-to-wear, cutlery and furniture.
Pictured: the cover of Forbes' 100 Most Innovative Companies, September 2014. On the cover—Axel Dumas.
Father and daughter Lauren
Ralph Lauren was born in the Bronx, in a poor family of Jewish immigrants, and all his childhood and youth passionately dreamed of wealth. He wrote about it in a school essay, at the age of 12 he saved up money to buy himself a three-piece suit, and his first office of his own tie company was in Empire State Building - it doesn't matter that it was a ten-meter closet without windows, but what an address. Lauren started with ties, which helped to look expensive and stylish. He made a name on them, then made the polo shirt popular in any situation. But it is unlikely that he would have created an empire if his marketing nose was limited to ties and jackets in the style of the English aristocracy. Lauren made an online store before mass market brands thought about it, in front of his store in Manhattan there is a touch screen with which you can buy any item at any time of the day. Today, Lauren is ranked 74th richest American, with a fortune of $6.2 billion.
The heir to this fortune is Dylan Lauren, no less successful businessman than her father. In 2001, she founded Dylan's Candy Bar, a confectionery chain that includes several of its own stores, as well as outlets in legendary venues like the New York Yankees Stadium. The flagship store in Manhattan offers 5,000 types of candy, as well as clothing and personal care items. Dylan is also actively involved in the activities of the ASPCA (American Society against Cruelty to Animals) and the Feed Foundation.
Pritzker family
The powerful Chicago-based Pritzker business family spent the 2000s in endless litigation over family assets until they decided on an ownership and control structure. One of the heirs of the business empire, Penny Pritzker, is now US Secretary of Commerce. Thomas is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Hyatt Hotels. Gigi is a famous film producer. John is the owner of the boutique hotel chain Commune Hotels. Brothers Anthony and JB run the Pritzker Group, a family-owned investment company. Karen and her husband Michael are famous investors. Liesel Pritzker Simmons (pictured), who in 2003 sued her father and other relatives over the division of assets, also invests (one of her exotic projects in Ghana is the processing of human waste into combustible fuel). 11 representatives of the dynasty - participants in the rating of billionaires by Forbes versions. The family owes their fortune to Anthony Pritzker (died 1986), who founded Hyatt with his sons and invested heavily in various assets, including the industrial conglomerate Marmon Group, now owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
Photo: Forbes cover, November 2003. LIselle Pritzker Simmons.
Bechtel family
Bechtel- private company with 100 years of history. Warren Bechtel, the founder of the company, died in Moscow in 1933 after a trip to Siberia, bequeathing to his descendants to master the vast wealth of our country. Today Bechtel is the 4th largest private construction company in the USA. Despite the influence, but rather even because of it, the family of the founder of the company is subjected to constant attacks. So, she was criticized for financial ties with the Bin Laden family, because of contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq after the invasion in 2003. In addition, during his tenure as President George W. Bush, Bechtel was accused of mutual corrupt appointments to office.
Nevertheless, Stephen Bechtel Jr. is included in the Forbes list of the richest Americans with a fortune of $ 2.9 billion, as well as in the ranking of philanthropists.
In the photo: the cover of the December 7, 1981 issue of Forbes. On the cover—Stephen Bechtel Jr.
Dupont family
The history of the Dupont family began in 1802, when Eluther Irene Dupont founded a gunpowder factory that turned into a whole chemical empire. Eluther's father, Pierre Samuel de Pont de Nemours, a French nobleman who was part of the retinue of King Louis XVI, fled the revolution in the United States in 1800. It was he who brought the formula of gunpowder, developed by his teacher Antoine Lavoisier. But Du Pont's fortune was made during the First World War, on military contracts.
Du Pont heirs to the chemical empire, Marianne Silliman and Eleanor Rust, featured in Forbes lists until 1994. But when analysts began to recalculate their wealth, it turned out that they had been dead for several years.
Another deadly story is connected with the heirs of the Du Ponts. John E. Dupont, whose net worth was estimated at $200 million in 1986, was sentenced in 1997 to 30 years for the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. The heir was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and died in prison in 2010. The story of the murder is dedicated to the Hollywood film Foxcatcher, where Dupont is played by Steve Carrel.
In 2014, another DuPont heir, Robert Richards, was accused of raping his 3-year-old daughter.
Today DuPont Corporation is managed by Aurelia DuPont.
In the photo: the president of the DuPont Corporation in 1962, Crawford Greenwalt, in front of a portrait of the founder of the company.
Northern Delaware is called the country of the Duponts: the road leading to the city of Wilmington is named after the Dupont Highway, and in Wilmington itself they own absolutely everything - from factories and banks to a computer corporation.
The surrounding towns of Wilmington seem like a piece of France - every now and then road signs flicker: Nemours, Sheanne. Boret de Fossey, Montchanet and Granois. Until recently, the French language prevailed on the streets of each of them - for a hundred years in a row, the Du Ponts hired mainly French people.
For outsiders, Dupont de Nemours is a giant multinational company: the size of the fortune in assets is $ 211 billion, branches in Europe and Latin America, the world monopoly on nylon, orlon, dacron and teflon, dozens of chemical plants, production of aircraft and weapons. By the middle of the twentieth century, there were already about one and a half thousand Du Ponts; five hundred people were considered multimillionaires, two hundred and fifty were part of the inner circle of the family, eight decided her fate.
André Dupont with his wife
20s
Delaware was used to the DuPonts: Edward DuPont, first vice president of the Wilmington Trust Company, the center of the clan's financial power, until recently sat with his managers in the city club and was one of the best parishioners of the city church.
The famous Dupont hunts and balls are a thing of the distant past - after the First World War, which brought them hundreds of millions, they hunted foxes, sitting on blooded stallions, surrounded by hunters and packs of hounds, in eighteenth-century camisoles, cocked hats and powdered wigs. At family celebrations they danced in the costumes of Louis XV marquises and marquises and drove home in gilded carriages - their estates, built in the manner of feudal castles and Versailles palaces, still surround Wilmington.
For about two hundred years, the Du Ponts have personified a special aristocratic style - unobtrusive wealth and effective power; about them family secrets, adultery, suicides, sudden and tragic deaths, legends still tell about the madness that haunts this kind of madness in the city. Darkened ancestral portraits hang in the front hall of the Wilmington Trust Company: a fair-haired lady and a stately, broad-faced gentleman in a powdered wig open the gallery.
The official Dupont family tree describes the meeting of the founders of the dynasty in idyllic colors: a fragile blond girl sat in her attic on the Rue de Richelieu, painted miniatures and looked out the window opposite. hosted there beautiful poses while practicing the noble art of swordsmanship, a strong young man Pierre Samuel Dupont, her watchmaker neighbor: he stopped the feint, the sword pierced the target painted on the wall ...
One of the family portraits
early 19th century
Anna Alexandrina had big Blue eyes, delicate skin and a highly developed imagination: she dreamed of great love and saw in a neighbor (large nose, proud stand and wide shoulders) the embodiment of all perfections.
Anna Alexandrina, left an orphan at the age of 8, lived at the mercy of rich relatives until she was sixteen - she grew up with her uncle and aunt own daughter and the girls became friends. When they turned into young ladies, the pupil was offered a place as a housekeeper on a distant estate - otherwise she could go to all four sides.
She chose the latter: now, having settled on the street of watchmakers, the dowry earned a living by painting dials.
A few months later, Samuel and Anna Alexandrina got married: the watchmaker was a Protestant and, having learned that a pretty neighbor shared his faith, he decided to take her down the aisle. She moved her belongings across the Rue Richelieu and settled in the very room where she had first seen her husband. Anna Alexandrina is only sixteen. In a few years, she will be severely disappointed in her marriage.
One of the main life principles of Mr. Dupont was deep ignorance: his ancestors professed Protestantism (and were considered dissidents in Catholic France), many of his Huguenot friends were in prison, which is why Samuel preferred to keep a low profile. He had his own method of self-preservation: Mr. Dupont could neither read nor write - therefore, royal officials could not accuse him of studying forbidden books. He didn't know a single letter or a single number, and on top of that, he was as stubborn as a donkey and narcissistic as a peacock.
Educated and educated Anna Alexandrina had a hard time with him. Their son Pierre grew up as an extraordinary child. He looked like his father only with a huge, like an eagle's beak, nose ( big nose still remains a Du Pont hereditary trait - like the heavy jaw of the Habsburgs or the protruding lip of the Bourbons). From childhood, Pierre was lame, weak and unhealthy, but he had a brilliant memory and a quick mind: at the age of twelve he knew French grammar by heart and freely translated from Latin.
Pierre turned out to be a kind boy: when the red-haired, freckled and stupid cousin Marianne fell ill with smallpox, the brother sat by her bed for days and became infected as a result. A few days later, doctors, not finding a pulse in him, pronounced him dead. All night before the funeral, heartbroken Anna sat at the coffin of her son, praying for the repose of his soul. By morning, the mother dozed off, when suddenly Pierre's cry woke her up: the boy survived, although his face was hopelessly disfigured.
Smallpox marks covered his cheeks and forehead, one eye was struck by farsightedness, the other by myopia: over the years, Pierre Dupont decided that in this way fate marks his chosen ones. “I am grateful to nature and chance,” he wrote in his memoirs, “for giving me the opportunity to have the entire range of vision.” The mother sobbed, the father forced his son to engage in fencing - Samuel Dupont considered the sword a universal remedy that strengthens the body and spirit. In the evenings, they practiced attacks, and spent their days at work: the father decided to make a watchmaker out of his son.
So several years passed, and then Anna Alexandrina died in childbirth. Before her death, joining the hands of her husband and son, she said: "Try to live happily."
They did not succeed - after the death of his mother, Pierre went astray. He made acquaintances with aspiring writers and young actors, drank with them, disappeared backstage and went to brothels. In addition, the young man fell into writing poetry and became addicted to empty thoughts: he closed himself in the attic and meditated for hours, staring at the ceiling beam. Once, having caught Pierre doing this, his father beat him like a dog, and then threw him out of the house.
A lame, disfigured by smallpox, half-blind young man found himself on the streets of Paris without a penny in his pocket - this is how brilliant career Pierre Dupont (Pierre Samuel du Pont), a publicist and businessman, a friend of the American president and close to the French king.
Friends did not let the poor man die of hunger - a familiar watchmaker took him to work. A few years later, Pierre came to his father's workshop, holding in his hands a magnificent watch in a carved oak case with a chased silver dial. It was engraved with the inscription: "Designed and made by the son of Dupont, dedicated to the father."
Pierre bowed silently, handed Samuel a gift and left his home - this time forever. So he paid off his filial duty and forever got rid of guilt. And that the priest could not read the dedication and did not understand its meaning even when a competent neighbor came to his aid - before that, Pierre did not care in the slightest.
Many years have passed since then, but Samuel Dupont never saw his son again. Pierre did not even come to his funeral - now he lived a different life. Pierre Dupont became a friend and adviser to the Prime Minister of France, Baron Turgot, edited an influential magazine, successfully speculated on the stock exchange and attended receptions with the king.
It all started with the fact that Pierre Dupont wrote an economic essay that accidentally caught the eye of Baron Turgot. The dignitary was struck by the style and perfection of the argument, and he took the young talent under his wing. Soon Pierre was offered a great job with a big salary.
The career was secured, now he could think about the family. When he was poor and persecuted, he was taken in by his mother's relatives, Messrs. Dor. On their estate lived Charlotte Marie Louise Le Deux, who was also distant relatives of Pierre. She was a slightly overgrown girl (at that time she was already eighteen), and the nearest neighbor, a fifty-five-year-old tax collector, a widower who drove two wives into a coffin, was considered by the patrons of Marie Louise a good match. Pierre was always distinguished by chivalrous inclinations, and Marie was smart and pretty, and he rushed to her aid, promising to marry. The young man asked to be given two years - during this time he promised to put his affairs in order.
Young Dupont kept his promise, although by that time it had already become clear that there was no love at all. However, this did not stop Marie Le Deux from giving him two sons - one of them, following the already established family tradition rebelled against his father...
Portraits of both of Pierre Dupont's sons hang in the front hall of the Wilmington Trust Company. The tall, dark-haired, handsome Victor did not want to study and failed any business: he was like two drops of water like his grandfather, Samuel Dupont. The youngest, Elether Irene, inherited his father's traits and talents: short stature, firm mouth, pronounced abilities for science and serious attitude to life. Pierre sent him to study with his friend, the famous chemist Lavoisier, who headed the powder mines of the French kingdom. A few years later, Elether Irene knew absolutely everything about gunpowder: it was he who laid the foundation of the Du Pont empire.
But the old life was swept away by the revolution - in 1799, the Du Ponts fled from France, because they were among those who tried to protect the king. Father and sons, together with courtiers loyal to Louis XVI, fired back at the sans-culottes in the Tuileries Palace, then, miraculously avoiding the guillotine, lay down on the bottom - and yet they could not settle in a new life.
The ship, the American Eagle, which left Toulon, was loaded with their furniture, pianos, and silverware. For the entire three-month journey across the Atlantic, the Du Ponts guarded their property with drawn swords in their hands - the team did not inspire confidence in them.
The American Eagle landed in Newport Bay, Rhode Island, and the DuPonts disembarked and headed for the nearest house. Pierre knocked - they did not open it; he looked out the window and saw the table set. Bells were ringing, a Christmas service was going on in the church, a turkey was waiting for the owners of the house and Apple pie, which they never tried: the du Ponts broke into the house and, in the name of freedom, equality and fraternity, ate everything that was on the table.
The dawn of a frosty morning on January 1, 1800 was engaged in - it began new Age, and in America it became the century of the du Ponts. They brought with them two hundred thousand francs in cash - before leaving France, Pierre Dupont established for land speculation joint-stock company"Pontiania" and issued shares. But America was teeming with its speculators, who had long ago raised the price of undeveloped land. Then Pierre Dupont took up the smuggling of Spanish gold, which also did not succeed.
He never got rich, but he made a contribution to history - Dupont Sr., while still in France, met the future US President Thomas Jefferson, and he entrusted him with mediation in negotiations between France and the United States. Thanks to Dupont, Napoleon sold Louisiana to America, and its territory doubled. The United States saved a lot of money on this deal, but Pierre Dupont himself did not make a dime from it.
Victor forced him out of business and, becoming the head of the company, finally ruined the "Pontiania". Pierre fell into melancholy and died a few years later. Victor briefly outlived his father, dying on a New York street from a heart attack.
Now the family is headed by Eleuthere Irenee du Pont. During his reign, the DuPonts have become a closed clan, shrouded in legends, living by their own laws.
Irene had three sons and twenty-four grandchildren. They were fond of chemistry, tried their hand at business, and the family business traditionally went to the most gifted and quirky.
The du Ponts no longer dealt with land - now they made money from death ...
Quiet, withdrawn Elethere did not look like a businessman at all. He was what he seemed to be: a scientist to the core, a man obsessed with chemical formulas.
In addition to his academic merits, the new head of the clan was observant and possessed a sense of opportunism. America turned out to be a country of armed men, and Elether Irene knew how to make the best gunpowder in the world.
And soon, in the town of Brandywine, the millstones of powder mills began to spin, and the Du Ponts' passion for the theory of explosives has now become hereditary. True, they changed their name: in democratic America, the plebeians of Du Pont turned into French aristocrats du Pont de Nemours.
The children of the Parisian watchmaker began to call themselves marquises, Nemours, the village where Pierre Dupont met Marie Le Deux, turned into their family estate.
What was going on in the world, the people of Brandywine did not learn from the newspapers. The Du Pont gunpowder factories were located here, and if there was a war somewhere, the mines worked in two shifts. However, this was quickly learned in neighboring towns - in a hurry, workers forgot about safety rules, and explosions were heard for tens of kilometers, and a column of fire sometimes threw people across the river into the streets of a neighboring village.
The du Ponts fed the whole area, and were treated with almost religious reverence - they were lucky, rich and made more and more perfect gunpowder. But no one felt love for them: too many Brandywine men died in their mines. 
The stories that went about them in the city were more like scary tales what they say to kids on Halloween. The old people said that the Dupont clan had a special fate: they live differently, but they die the same way.
It is no coincidence that Eleter Irene, who survived his brother by seven years, clutched his heart on the same New York street as Victor, and he was carried to die in the same room of the same hotel.
It was said that they always had to pay for their sins: under Alfred I. du Pont, the son of Irene, who headed the company in 1837 (according to the portrait, he had a big nose, fleshy cheeks and a sharp, penetrating look), powder mines worked around the clock. Accidents followed one after another - as a result, he experienced such a strong nervous shock that he was forced to retire.
They also remembered the shadow of the unfortunate Cowan, a former worker in the du Pont mines. Some of the old people swore that they themselves saw him wandering around the house of Henry Dupont, Alfred's younger brother and successor: in one hand the ghost held a Bible, in the other - the same rope ...
In 1852, two powder mines exploded, and Henry blamed Cowan for this. The poor man swore on the Bible that it was not his fault, but Dupont put him out the door, and that same night Cowan hanged himself. The old people talked about retribution: a few years later, Alexis Dupont died in a mine explosion. When his brother's eyes were closed, Henry Dupont turned gray.
During the war between the North and the South, the mines exploded 11 times: 43 people died, hundreds of people were mutilated. The Duponts also had to pay for this: fate took its toll on poor Charlotte Shepard Henderson DuPont, one of the most beautiful women of his time.
She came from an old southern family. The brothers fought on the side of the Confederates, and the husband's family armed Lincoln's army, and poor Charlotte found herself between two fires: those who were dear to her became enemies. The mother-in-law, a strong-willed and domineering lady, commanded the house.
The case ended in a nervous breakdown, from which Charlotte never recovered and died a few years later in an insane asylum. Her husband, Irene Dupont II, blamed her mother for what had happened and did not say a word to her until his death.
Some people in Wilmington still believe that the DuPonts have a special gift: they make themselves and their loved ones miserable. However, most do not believe in this: the days when the Du Ponts traded in death have sunk into the past. Now they have a completely "vegetarian" business: nylon, orlon, teflon, tights, windbreakers, non-burning frying pans, mineral fertilizers, medicines - more than twenty thousand items of various goods in total.
Wallace Karoteros
But the Wilmington gossips, no, no, yes, and they will remember the fate of Wallace Hume Carothers. The inventor of nylon, which brings the DuPonts $4.5 billion a year, which made women's waists thin and bellies flat, died in insanity and obscurity. He struggled with the nylon formula for almost ten years - from 1928 to 1937, discovered it and landed in a psychiatric clinic.
And after leaving the hospital and celebrating his forty-first birthday, he locked himself in a hotel room and took potassium cyanide. Carrothers' wife was two months pregnant, but that didn't stop him.
Another reason to gossip about the Du Ponts appeared in 1995, when John du Pont, already an elderly gentleman who had been studying biology all his life, shot a friend in a fit of sudden madness, Olympic champion to wrestle George Schultz, who came to him to have a glass of whiskey. The lawyers did a good job, and John du Pont was declared insane.
This was a great success: in the worst case, he was threatened with life imprisonment, for murder without aggravating circumstances they could be given from twenty-eight to forty years, and he got off with five years in a psychiatric hospital.
Those who had seen John before did not recognize him in the courtroom: a tangled beard, long, dirty, gray hair in one week ... When the jury reached a verdict, the killer's father said that the term for which he was convicted of great importance does not have: in a prisoner's uniform or without it, but John Dupont will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Exactly one year later he will be released from psychiatric clinic, and he will settle away from people, in the Du Pont estate, located in Philadelphia. Where one of John's relatives lived out her life, the insane Charlotte Shepard Henderson DuPont.
But the Du Ponts themselves are not inclined to believe the sinister legends about a family curse that haunts their family. For a long time, the current head of the Dupont family, Pierre Samuel, the fourth, was the governor of the state of Delaware, a courteous and well-mannered gentleman, a former candidate for the US presidency.
Every year, the numerous genus increases by about thirty strong, red-cheeked, big-nosed babies. The du Pont empire is expanding, the scientists working for it are inventing new high-tech, facilitating human life toys. And one and a half thousand shareholders, who had the good fortune to be born under the name of DuPont, live in peace and contentment.
The name of Aurélie Dupont is well known both in France and abroad. For more than 20 years, this outstanding ballerina has been the leading soloist of the Opera de Paris. The talent of the dancer inspired the director Cedric Klapisch to create a documentary film “L’espace d’un instant”, dedicated to the everyday life of the prima. A few years ago, Aurélie visited Moscow to take part in the award ceremony and the concert of the winners of the annual Benois de la Danse award. Being at the peak of fame and professional opportunities, on May 28, 2015, the 42-year-old etoile said goodbye to the stage. It was said that the artistic director of the ballet theater Benjamin Millepied offered her the post of head tutor of the troupe. However, on February 4, news came that from August 1, she would head the ballet troupe instead of Millepied himself, who was leaving his post ahead of schedule.
Among the outgoing generation of stars of the Paris Opera, Aurélie Dupont has undoubtedly been and remains the brightest. The career of the dancer from the very beginning was very successful. Being enrolled in the troupe at the age of 16, she is extremely short term rose to the highest rung of the ballet hierarchy. The title of etoile was brought to her by the part of Kitri in the Nuriev edition of Don Quixote.
Perhaps the main professional advantage of Aurélie Dupont is its versatility. She can equally well perform classics, neoclassical productions, modern choreography. The ballerina's repertoire included performances by both the famous ballet masters of the 19th century - Marius Petipa, Jules Perrot, and the great masters of the 20th century - George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Pina Bausch, Roland Petit, John Neumeier and others.
During her long career, Aurélie Dupont performed in the title parts of more than 30 ballets: from the traditional version of " swan lake to shocking novelties like Siddhartra by Angelin Preljocaj. It is interesting to compare the same heroines in different productions. For example, the classic "Giselle" and the famous "Giselle" by Mats Ek, in which Albert's beloved from the very beginning is in a state of madness. In both cases, the choreographic and dramatic side of the dancer's talent turned out to be on top.
What a talent! It was enough for her just to appear on the stage, and the audience was already frozen in admiration. Ideally correct facial features, combined with a refined figure and thick dark hair, gave birth to the image of the Madonna, reproduced by Leonardo. Aurelie categorically did not recognize the on-duty ballet smile. On the contrary, the concentrated, intelligent expression on her face, which made her uncharismatic in the eyes of some critics, became calling card dancer style. Impeccable technical equipment was in harmony with the innate grace, plasticity, excellent sense of posture and the aristocratic nobility of the prima. Aurelie Dupont is not one of those who did 32 fouettes for the sake of showing their own virtuoso abilities. She carefully nurtured each part, thoroughly rehearsed, got used to it. And even on stage, inspired by the theatrical atmosphere, she never lost self-control.
Another amazing quality of a ballerina is amazing musicality. So that she does not perform - Tchaikovsky's ballets or modern performances, where often as musical accompaniment there is a metallic rattle - you can see how she listens to the music, reacting to the slightest turn in the score. This skill, rare for a ballerina, gave her every movement organicity and a special, elusive charm.
Aurelie Dupont's regular partners on the stage of the Opera de Paris were such brilliant dancers as Nicolas Le Rich, Manuel Legris, and others. The prima's farewell gift to the Parisian public was the ballet Manon by Kenneth Macmillan, performed with the guest premiere of La Scala, Roberto Bolle. Recently, Aurelie devoted more time to her family and raising a child, but she did not plan to break with the world of choreography. Now we can say with confidence: “Aurelie, we are not saying goodbye!”
Anastasia Popova,
IV course ITF