Cécile Carnot

Cécile Carnot (1841–1898) was a first lady of France in 1887-1894. She was married to President Marie François Sadi Carnot.

As first lady, Cécile Carnot devoted a lot of her time to representation in public and entertaining at the Presidential Palace: she hosted three balls annually and arranged garden parties at which she introduced tennis. She regarded representation as an important part in the political career for her spouse. In 1889 she introduced the annual Christmas dinner for poor children, which became a tradition ever since.

She played a political role when she negotiated with Georges Ernest Boulanger, preventing a coup.

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