Thérèse Humbert: Paris Lent Her Millions. Then They Opened the Safe.

A locksmith kneels in front of an iron safe in a Paris town house, with officers of the court standing behind him. For seventeen years the city had been told this safe held a fortune of a hundred million francs, and bankers, lenders and ministers had acted as though they had seen it. On Friday 9 May 1902, the door finally swung open. This is the story of Thérèse Humbert: the farm girl from the south of France who built a fortune out of a locked door, the American uncle who may never have existed, the house on the Avenue de la Grande-Armée, the trial where she was sentenced to five years, and the legend that still hides what became of her. Chapters 0:00 - The Safe 1:41 - Part One: The Count's Daughter 3:42 - Part Two: The American Uncle 5:52 - Part Three: The House on the Avenue 8:04 - Part Four: The Friday 9:52 - Part Five: The Trial 11:54 - Part Six: The Legend Sources Hilary Spurling, La Grande Therese (1999; US edition 2000), as reviewed by Alice Kaplan in The New York Times, 9 July 2000. Wikipedia (English and French), "Therese Humbert". Musee du Barreau de Paris, "L'affaire Therese Humbert". Janine Tissot, "Therese Humbert", quoting Le Figaro of 31 January 1903. Paris faits divers, "Vendredi 9 mai 1902: le coffre-fort des Humbert". Strange Company and Edwardian Promenade, retellings of the affair. Where sources disagree (what the safe held, including a brick that appears only in later tellings; her birth year, 1855 or 1856; when she was arrested, December 1902; how much she borrowed, between 50 and 100 million francs) the video stays with what they share. More forgers and fakes: The Forger Who Painted His Own Alibi (Han van Meegeren)    • Han van Meegeren: The Forger Who Painted H...   Illustrations are original artwork made for this video. Narration, music and sound design are original.