List of prostitutes and courtesans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of famous persons who have engaged in prostitution, as well as pimping and courtesan work.
Contents |
Historical [edit]
Ancient world [edit]
- Aspasia, Greek hetaera, companion of Pericles
- Phryne, Greek hetaera
- Rahab, Biblical prostitute who assisted the Hebrews in capturing Jericho (Joshua 2:1-7)
- Su Xiaoxiao, Chinese courtesan of the 5th century
- Thaïs, Greek hetaera who lived during the time of Alexander the Great
- Theodora, Empress of Byzantium
- Gomer, a prostitute whom God commanded Hosea to marry in the biblical book of Hosea..
Modern era [edit]
- Polly Adler, New York madam, 1920s - 1940s
- Josie Arlington, madam in Storyville, New Orleans
- Laura Bell, the "Queen of London whoredom"
- Theresa Berkeley, 19th-century dominatrix
- Mary Boleyn, lover of King Francis as well as King Henry VIII, the French king referred to her as "The English Mare"
- Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman
- Pearl Callahan, prostitute from Northern California, in the film American Courtesans, sex worker advocate[1]
- Alice Chambers, 19th century Dodge City prostitute
- Annie Chapman, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Gina DePalma, porn star, prostitute and dominatrix, in the film American Courtesans[2]
- Kristen DiAngelo, brought back the term "courtesans", in order to re-brand prostitution in America, producer of the film American Courtesans[3]
- Madame du Barry, mistress to Louis XV of France
- Veronica Franco, Venetian courtesan and poetess
- Nell Gwyn, courtesan to Charles II of England
- Mary Jane Kelly, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Nicole Leguay d'Oliva, French prostitute involved in the Affair of the Diamond Necklace who impersonated Marie Antoinette
- Carol Leigh, a.k.a. Scarlot Harlot, coined the term "sex worker" [4]
- Mata Hari (born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), Dutch spy
- Mary Ann Nichols, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Barbara Payton, American actress turned prostitute [5]
- Cora Pearl, 19th century Parisian courtesan
- Shady Sadie (Josephine Marcus) Courtesan who had an affair with Wyatt Earp
- Elizabeth Stride, one of the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper
- Martha Tabram, a possible victim of Jack the Ripper
- Valérie Tasso, French author
- Libby Thompson, "Squirrel Tooth Alice," madam of a brothel in Sweetwater, Texas
- Clara Ward, Princesse de Caraman-Chimay, daughter of a Michigan lumberman who spent most of her life in Europe
- Lulu White, madam in Storyville, New Orleans
In literature [edit]
- Bella Cohen, Florry, & Zoe, in Ulysses by James Joyce
- Belle, Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O'Neill
- Belle Watling, Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
- Candy, in Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction by Luke Davies
- Candy, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
- Chandramukhi, in Devdas
- Elisabeth Rouset, in Boule de Suif by Guy de Maupassant
- Fanny Hill, in Fanny Hill, by John Cleland
- Fantine, in Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo
- Lady Sally, a.k.a. Callahan's Lady
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- Marguerite Gautier, from Alexandre Dumas, fils' work La Dame aux camélias, inspired by real life Marie Duplessis, 19th century courtesan
- Violetta, main character from the opera La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi, is also inspired by Alexandre Dumas' La Dame aux camélias. "La Traviata" means "the reprobate".
- Juliette, in the Marquis de Sade's Juliette
- Lozana, Portrait of Lozana by Francisco Delicado
- Moll Flanders, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
- Molly Malone, Irish urban legend
- Nana, Nana, by Emile Zola
- Nancy, Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
- Odette, in Marcel Proust's Un amour de Swann
- Phedre no Delauny of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel novels
- Pie 'Oh' Pah, from Imajica by Clive Barker
- Romulus, central character in The Romanian: Story of an Obsession by Bruce Benderson
- Mrs. Rosie Palm, brothel owner and president of the Guild of "Seamstresses" in various Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett
- Satine, in Moulin Rouge! by Baz Luhrmann, a story based on the Paris nightclub of the same name.
- Séverine Serizy, in the 1928 novel Belle de Jour and the 1967 film based on it
- Sonya Marmeladova, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Suzie Wong, from The World of Suzie Wong
- Talanta, La Talanta by Pietro Aretino
- Tra La La, Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby
- Tristessa, Tristessa by Jack Kerouac
- Vasantsenaa, a Nagarvadhu, or wealthy courtesan, in Śudraka's Sanskrit play, Mṛcchakatika.
- Yumi Komagata, in Rurouni Kenshin, by Nobuhiro Watsuki
- Zaza, in Zaza by Pierre Berton and Charles Simon
In film and television [edit]
- Inara Serra, Firefly by Joss Whedon
- Mrs. Miller, in McCabe and Mrs. Miller, by Robert Altman
- Vivian Ward, central character in Pretty Woman
Symbolic or allegorical prostitutes [edit]
- The Whore of Babylon
- Oholah and Oholibah
- The prostitute in The Harlot's Progress by William Hogarth
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]
Notes [edit]
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3] Re-started the civil rights movement in 2012 with the American Courtesans project in order to legalize prostitution in the US
- ^ 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.
- ^ O'Dowd, John. "Hollywood Bad Girl Barbara Payton".
- ^ Charles Squire Celtic Myth and Legend
