Negress Rich for Life

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 6728, 10 December 1931, Page 2

Negress Rich for Life

A few months ago a young Senegalese girl —the Passport authorities called her Yvonno as her African name was unpronounceable—went to Paris to take part in the great Colonial Exhibition. All she possessed was a few pence. When she returns to her home she will take back at least £3ooo—enough to make her rich for life.

The way in which the girl made her fortune reads like a chapter out of a romance. A French artist was strolling through the exhibition grounds when he caught sight of the girl standing amid a group of others in the Senegalese section. Immediately his trained eye recognised a perfect physical type, a veritable African Venus.

The aTtist asked the girl to pose for him. She accepted. The artist boasted everywhere that he had found the perfect model, and other artists were not slow to take the cue. Bequests for permission to paint her rained in from all sides.

But Yvonne was no fooL She engaged an astute French manager, and her price for sittings went up by leaps and bounds. But offers for her services continued to flow in, and it is believed that there will be at least half a dozen portraits of her in next year’s Salon—surely a record for a negress.

Another fruitful source of revenue was the photographers. They also had to pay. Now it only remains for pending contracts with a film company and a Arm of publishers for her “life stoTy” to bo concluded for the £3OOO mark to be reached.

What will the girl do with the money? Yvonne has decided that marriage would bo the quickest method of parting with her money. “I want to be a business girl,” sho says. She has decided to start a dress shop in her native country.