The Countess was born Arthur Berloget in Paris to
working class parents. Her father was a coachman and her mother was a dressmaker. As an adolescent, she engaged in sexual relationships with older men. She began presenting as a woman in her teenage years and going by the name Pauline, later becoming a
mistress of a man who was a member of the
French nobility and the son of a
marquis. Her lover abandoned her after a few years. While living as a
courtesan in Paris, she earned a living as a
cabaret and
café-concert singer. Berloget was drafted to serve in the
French Army, and had to spend that time presenting as a man. She wrote about the sadness that her temporary detransition caused her. She later
deserted from her post. In 1861, Berloget was arrested for desertion and theft, and was sentenced to ten years in prison. While in prison, she met a fellow prisoner named Gustave Engel, who she describes in her autobiography as the love of her life. Upon her release from prison, she returned to her life in Paris, living as a woman. Berloget was part of a
LGBT community in Paris made up of
filles and
mignons, transgender women, and
tribade sisters, lesbians and transgender men. She was given the name "The Countess" by this community during a ceremony, which she wrote about in her 1874 autobiography
The Secret Confessions of a Parisian: The Countess, 1850-1871, which was published in 1895. The autobiography details her life in Paris living as a woman throughout the
Second French Empire and the beginning of
La Belle Époque. She wrote of her gender transition, "I, who had so desired to be a girl, have triumphed over natural law." She documented her
coming out process to her mother, who welcomed her as a daughter, and wrote about the mutual support that the
filles and
tribade sisters provided each other. Berloget described her community as a family, and wrote about the lavish parties and
soirées they hosted. A
dilettante artist, she illustrated her autobiography with drawings of herself and her contemporaries, including a fellow
fille known as La Charles and a
tribade known as B. == References ==