List of prostitutes and courtesans

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This is a list of famous persons who have engaged in prostitution, as well as pimping and courtesan work.

Contents

Historical [edit]

Nell Gwyn, ca 1675
Madame du Barry
Cora Pearl

Ancient world [edit]

Modern era [edit]

In literature [edit]

Vasantasena from the Sanskrit play Mṛcchakatika

In film and television [edit]

Symbolic or allegorical prostitutes [edit]

Prostitutes in myth and legend [edit]

  • Agatha - English prostitute, mother of Mother Shipton
  • Basileia (Ancient Greece) - in Pandemos, this goddess was mainly a goddess for prostitutes or courtesans[citation needed]
  • Bebhinn (Celts of the British Isles) - the goddess of pleasure
  • Belili (Sumer, Babylon, Assyria, Philistines, & Canaanites) - her worship required sacred prostitution
  • The daughters in the Saint Nicholas legend (Asia Minor) - they were sold to a brothel keeper by their father
  • Naamah (Hebrews) - an angel of prostitution, one of the succubus mates of the demon Samael in Zoharistic Qabalah
  • Shamhat (Sumer/Babylon)[clarification needed]
  • Xochiquetzal (Aztecs) - the goddess of prostitutes, pregnant women, & dancing
  • Alexandra Dé Broussehan (Irish Celts) - a woman turned spirit of prostitution, caused a war between the Callahan and Lawlor Clans. Often associated with Korrigan whose worship involved sacred prostitution [6]
  • Mary Magdalen (New Testament) - Mary is commonly believed to have been a prostitute because she was conflated with the prostitute that Jesus forgave. Many scholars[clarification needed] believe the historical Mary Magdalen was not, in fact, a prostitute.

See also [edit]

Category:Courtesans

Notes [edit]

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3] Re-started the civil rights movement in 2012 with the American Courtesans project in order to legalize prostitution in the US
  4. ^ Welcome to the World of Scarlot Harlot, her own web site, accessed 28 August 2006; Carol Leigh, Unrepentant Whore: Collected Works Of Scarlot Harlot, Last Gasp, 2004.
  5. ^ O'Dowd, John. "Hollywood Bad Girl Barbara Payton". 
  6. ^ Charles Squire Celtic Myth and Legend