Mademoiselle D'Jeck

Mademoiselle D'Jeck (died 1837) (also D'Jick, Djeck, D'jek, D'Geck or other varied spellings) was a celebrated elephant who performed in Europe and the United States.

Theatrical career

D'Jeck first created a sensation in July 1829 in Paris, where she appeared at the Cirque Olympique of Antonio Franconi in a piece entitled l'éléphant du Roi de Siam (Elephant of the King of Siam) by Léopold Chandezon and Ferdinand Laloue.[1][2][3] She was then engaged, via menagerie owner Stephen Polito and Edward Cross, by Frederick Henry Yates of the Adelphi Theatre in London, where she debuted on December 3, 1829.[4][5] This play was titled The Elephant of Siam and the Fire Fiend and credited to Samuel Beazley and John Gallott,[6] though it may be largely a translation of the French play. D'Jeck remained at the Adelphi through early April before traveling around England. John Gallott was an actor at the Haymarket and Coburg Theatres, and ultimately became prompter at the old Adelphi. Gallot was billed throughout America as D'Jecks handler and owner.

D'Jeck then traveled to America and debuted at the Bowery Theatre in New York in January 1831, where she had a three-week stand, a very long run for a play at the time.[7] At the Arch Theatre in Philadelphia, the rival Chestnut Theatre brought an unsuccessful lawsuit over who would have the right to show the animal.[8][9] She returned to England in July 1831.[10]

The play featured all the tricks the elephant could perform.[11] The historian John Earl notes that the elephant, rather than the author, took a curtain call. The Morning Post reported, "After the dropping of the curtain, a general cry was raised of Elephant! Elephant! and accordingly out she came, unattended. … She knelt on her forelegs, bowed gracefully with her proboscis, and retired amidst the universal acclamation from all parts of the house."[12]

The 1858 novelette Jack of All Trades by Charles Reade is based on D'Jeck and her keeper, violin-maker John Lott.[13][14]

Incidents and death

In August 1830, while traveling through Morpeth in northeast England, D'Jeck killed one of her keepers. This is likely in response to abuse, though whether D'Jeck had a violent nature or was responding to harsh treatment can be the subject of debate. The resulting court proceedings brought much fanfare, but D'Jeck was let off with a small fine. In 2013, the local November Club theatre group produced a play, Dr Mullins’ Anatomy of the Theatre Royal, based on this story.[15][16][17]

D'Jeck was also involved in a number of other incidents where she reportedly harmed people, in England and continental Europe. One summary from 1882 states that after returning to England from America, "she half-killed a baker. Going to France, she killed another man at Bordeaux. At another place she broke her keeper's arm in two places. In Bavaria, she set her shed on fire."[13][18][19][20]

Eventually, D'Jeck was shot to death with a circus cannon (after shooting her with rifles was not successful) in June 1837 in Geneva, reportedly for breaking a priest's ribs. Her meat was sold for eating.[13][21][22]

References
  1. New Actor at Paris, The Calcutta Magazine and Monthly Register February 1830, p. 22
  2. Berthier, Patrick. Animal de théâtre ou bête de scène?, in L’Animal du XIXe siècle (2008) (in French)
  3. La littérature française contemporaine: G-Laz, p. 560 (1852)
  4. (12 December 1829). The Drama in London, The Edinburgh Literary Journal, p. 402-03
  5. (December 1829). Adelphi Theatre, The Gentleman's Magazine, p. 557
  6. https://www.worldcat.org/title/elephant-of-siam-and-the-fire-fiend-a-magnificent-eastern-drama-in-three-acts-including-the-words-of-the-galloping-duet-and-all-of-the-original-music/oclc/1013422753&referer=brief_results
  7. Ireland, Joseph. Records of the New York stage, from 1750 to 1860, p. 657 (1867)
  8. (26 May 1907). Elephant in Drama, The Sun (New York)
  9. Grimsted, David. Melodrama Unveiled: American Theater and Culture, 1800-1850, p. 102 (1987)
  10. (2 July 1831). Note, New York Morning Courier and Enquirer, p. 2, col. 1 (nothing that D'Jeck had sailed for London the prior day on the ship Hannibal)
  11. "New Frontage of the Adelphi Theatre", Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, 7 November 1840, p. 290
  12. "Adelphi Theatre", The Morning Post, 4 December 1829, p. 3
  13. (March 15, 1882). Mademoiselle Djek, Judy
  14. Nydegger, Amanda L. Fiction Based on Fact: Subversions of Power and Propriety in Charles Reade's Matter-of-Fact Romances, Retrieved 23 April 2014 (Ph.D. thesis, contains references to additional sources on DJeck)
  15. (1 April 2013). The Elephant in the dock, The Journal (newspaper)
  16. Richardson, M.A. The Borderer's table book, Vol. III, (1846)
  17. (June 1888). A Revengeful Elephant, The Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend, Vol. II, No. 16, p. 244 (including copy of Newcastle Chronicle report from 1830)
  18. (22 March 1833). Death by an Elephant -- Mad'lle. D'Jeck, New York Evening Post, p. 2, col. 5(reporting on man killed in the Loire by D'Jeck in February 1833)
  19. (3 August 1835). Items from the French Papers, New York Spectator, p. 1, col. 3 (reporting that D'Jeck knocked down a man in Bruges who taunted her with bonbons, severely injuring him)
  20. Wood, J.G. The Illustrated Natural History (7th ed. 1872), p. 160 (another telling of Bruges incident)
  21. (29 July 1866). Execution of an Elephant, The New York Times
  22. (15 July 1837). Allerlei, Allgemeine Zeitung von und für Bayern (in German)

Further reading
  • François Mayor, Miss Djeck (16 pages) (1837)
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