Maurice Perronnet
French, 1877-1950
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Joanni Maurice Perronnet was a French painter and fencer.
He was son of music composer Joanni Perronnet and Blanche Guérard, as well as grandson of the playwright and lyricist Amélie Perronnet.
He was a fencing master, the only professional allowed to compete in the Olympic Games at the time. Two such masters, Perronet and Leonidas Pyrgos of Greece, competed in a special foil fencing event at the first modern Olympics. The two faced each other in an event that consisted of a single bout to three touches. Perronet lost the bout, 3-1. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, winning a silver medal and 3 goats.
He had close links to Sarah Bernhardt, she was his godmother. In 1908, he became secretary-general of the Sarah-Bernhardt Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt.
He is known as a painter, most of his paintings are seascapes. He also designed many posters for French railway companies and painted several portraits of Sarah Bernhardt.