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Éléonore de Dampierre

b. 1947

Born
28 Feb 1947, Neuilly-sur-Seine
Country of birth
France

Living person. The family sees only the name, dates and photo; everything else stays private unless they choose to share it.

facts
6
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Neuilly-sur-Seine

    Birth, Neuilly-sur-Seine

  2. Child born: Ève de Dampierre-Noiray

    Birth, Clamart

What was it like?

The world around Neuilly-sur-Seine, 1947: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Éléonore was born around the same time as Arsène Wenger, Sebastião Salgado, and Bob Marley.

Born around the same time

  • Arsène Wenger

    1949 · French football manager (born 1949)

  • Sebastião Salgado

    1944 · Brazilian photographer (1944–2025)

  • Bob Marley

    1945 · Jamaican reggae musician (1945–1981)

  • Meryl Streep

    1949 · American actress

  • George Lucas

    1944 · American filmmaker and philanthropist (born 1944)

  • Gerd Müller

    1945 · German footballer (1945–2021)

Fashion
Around 1942–1944

Restricted clothing for men and boys

To save fabric during the occupation, official regulations prohibited trouser cuffs and restricted men to having only one pocket per pair of trousers. Boys were also required to wear short trousers until the age of 15.

Around 1940–1944

One pair of shoes every four years

Under strict rationing during the 1940s, a woman was entitled to only one pair of flat shoes that had to last four years. To cope with this, many turned to resourceful alternatives like making shoes with wooden soles.

Music
Around 1940–1945

Clandestine dances during the war

From 1940 to 1945, all collective dancing was officially prohibited by the Vichy regime, forcing youth to hold clandestine balls in barns, fields, and even stables. Despite the ban, these gatherings remained popular for dancing the waltz, rumba, tango, and march.

Instruments for dancing in France

People danced to the accordion, bagpipes, and the vielle, a traditional string instrument played by turning a wheel. Between the wars, the accordion became the dominant instrument for popular dances across France.

Getting around

Continuous London-Paris rail ferry service

Launched in 1936, the Night Ferry allowed passengers to travel between London and Paris by train without changing, as the rail cars were loaded onto a ferry boat to cross the English Channel.

Around 1955–1955

Record-breaking train travel in 1955

By 1955, the Sud-Express train achieved a world-record speed for its route, covering the 816 km between Paris and Hendaye in 7 hours and 23 minutes.

Daily life
Around 1933–1945

School children's labor and chores

School children performed manual labor for the war effort, such as going to potato fields every Thursday to remove Colorado beetles from the plants. Students also helped clean the local school swimming pool by scrubbing the walls and floor barefoot with brushes.

Traditional food preservation methods

To keep food fresh in homes without modern appliances, families used "garde-manger," which were ventilated cupboards or fine-mesh cages suspended in cool rooms, cellars, or kitchens. Meat was sometimes preserved by covering it in oil or searing it in a pan.

Food
Around 1951–1951

Average annual food consumption in 1951

In 1951, a typical French family of four consumed over three tons of food annually, costing between 320,000 and 360,000 francs.

Around 1952–1962

Rise of processed convenience foods

Between 1952 and 1962, the consumption of potato mash and canned soup exploded, with the latter increasing by 182 percent.

Prices and wages

Bread rationing in 1947

In 1947, the daily bread ration was reduced to 200 grams, a lower amount than during the German occupation.

Around 1948–1948

A metalworker's budget in 1948

In 1948, a Parisian metalworker supporting a wife and three children earned about 16,400 francs per fortnight, often becoming an involuntary vegetarian because meat was so expensive.

Work
Around 1948–1948

A worker's income in 1948

In 1948, a skilled metalworker assembling motorcycles in a Paris suburb earned 8,200 francs per month to support his family of five.

Around 1948–1948

Working hours in the late 1940s

An industrial worker in 1948 typically worked a 48-hour, five-day week, often starting at 7:00 A.M. to clock in after a bicycle commute.

News and letters
Around 1940–1943

Smuggling letters during occupation

During the occupation, sympathetic post office staff enabled about 100 letters a month to be smuggled from occupied France to London via the Vichy zone.

Around 1950–1974

Parisian pneumatic 'petits bleus' messages

In Paris, residents used the pneumatic tube network, or 'petits bleus', to send messages across the city in one to two hours, costing about 45 old francs in 1950 for seven grams. Unlike telegrams, these allowed for longer messages because the price was based on weight rather than the number of words.

During their lifetime

  1. 1950

    Creation of the minimum wage

    In 1950, the government established the minimum wage (SMIG) to improve workers' purchasing power.

  2. 1956

    Third week of paid vacation

    In 1956, French workers were granted a third week of paid vacation, significantly increasing their leisure time.

  3. 1967

    Legalization of the contraceptive pill

    The 1967 Neuwirth Law legalized the contraceptive pill, allowing women greater control over family planning.

  4. 1975

    Legalization of abortion

    The 1975 Veil Law legalized abortion in France under specific circumstances, marking a major shift in women's rights.

  5. 1982

    Reduction of work week to 39 hours

    In 1982, the work week was reduced to 39 hours and employees received a fifth week of paid vacation.

  6. 2000

    Implementation of 35-hour work week

    France transitioned to a 35-hour work week in 2000, continuing efforts to promote job creation and balance.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.