Madame Arthur

You are walking toward a landmark of French queer history. Madame Arthur opened its doors in 1946 as the first venue in France dedicated to what was then called gender-twist cabaret. The club took its name from a nineteenth-century song, originally written by Paul de Kock, which had become a popular piece in the repertoire of the famous singer Yvette Guilbert. By choosing this title, the founder, Marcel Ouizman, anchored his new venue in the deep musical traditions of the city even as he pioneered a bold new form of nightlife.