Who Was Gaby Deslys?

Gaby Deslys is widely acknowledged to have been one Marie-Elise Gabrielle Caire, born in Marseilles, France, to French parents. But, during the latter part of her life and in the years following her tragic early death, this identification was put very much under scrutiny, and an altogether different origin was ascribed to her.

It transpires that at around the same time that Gabrielle Caire was born in Marseilles, there was born in the Bohemian peasant town of Horni Mostenice in Moravia, one Hedwig (or Edwige) Navratil, daughter of Johann Navratil, who in her mature years bore an uncanny resemblance to Gaby Deslys. As a young woman, Hedwig spent several years as a chambermaid in private houses and hotels before eloping with an actor to pursue a career on the stage. She got a job in the chorus line of the Apollo music hall in Kattowitz (Katowice, Poland) under the assumed name of Hedwig Rogee. In subsequent years she utilised a number of other names, and acheived some popularity on the stage in Vienna as "Little Haerakih". Eventually she made her way to France, and it was claimed by her family that it was at this point, sometime around 1914, that she took over the identity of Gaby Deslys from Gabrielle Caire and went on in that guise to win considerable fame and fortune, whilst Gabrielle Caire died or retired in obscurity.

They produced much evidence to support their case. First and foremost were a number of letters and postcards they had received from Hedwig, written in Hungarian and signed "Your loving daughter. Gaby Deslys," and therefore took it for granted that the famous Gaby was indeed their Hedwig. Next was a bankruptcy report from a Viennese jeweller which listed amongst his debtors a claim for 900 crowns against Hedy Navratil, otherwise known as Gaby Deslys, an actress living at 33 Kartnorstrasse in that city. In addition they produced sworn statements from a number of Austrian and Hungarian actresses to the effect that they knew and played with Gaby Deslys and that she was positively a Hungarian. One in particular, Miss Gilta Vera, said that she was Gaby's closest friend and confidante for a number of years and that Gaby told her confidentially that she was Hedwig Navratil, but that she feared to let this become known because "the public only respects Countesses and Marchionesses on the stage." Then there was the alleged confession of a French physician that he had faked a birth certificate for Gaby to fraudulently establish her French nationality. And the mystery only deepened further when it was claimed that Gabrielle Caire had stolen Hedy's identity papers, passports and other documents in order to go into Austria and Hungary during the war us a spy for the allies, hoodwinking the German officials because of the remarkable resemblance she bore to the Hungarian girl she impersonated.

There is no question that Hedwig Navratil and Gabrielle Caire both existed, nor is their much doubt that they bore an uncanny resemblance one to the other. And Mrs. Navratil's claims do seem to have been founded on a genuine belief that Gaby Deslys really was her daughter. She even went to see her once when, not long before her death, Gaby Deslys was playing at a Viennese theatre. Amused, Gaby admitted her to her dressing room where Mrs. Navratil threw herself on Gaby's neck and, after kissing her, explained through an interpreter, since she spoke no French and this Gaby knew no Hungarian, that she (Gaby) was her longlost daughter. Gaby kindly explained that she had only mother, and pointed to Madame Caire who was with her in the room. Years earlier, in London during the war, Hedy Navratil's sister had sought her out and, in an attempt to prove her identity, denounced Gaby to the police, causing her to be brought before the Intelligence Service to prove that she was indeed a French woman and not a Hungarian spy. The claim was taken seriously, but after hearing testimony from numerous witnesses the authorities had been ultimately satisfied as to the truth of her identity.

So could there have been any basis of truth in any part of the Navratils claims? If Hedy Navratil ever was the internationally celebrated Gaby Deslys it could only have been after Gabrielle Caire had already made that name famous. But why then would Gabrielle Caire hand over the mantle that had brought her fame and fortune to simply disappear into obscurity. And why did the Gaby Deslys that died so tragically in 1920 own Madame Caire as her mother? How could she have hoodwinked the British Intelligence authorities in time of war? Could it be that Gabrielle and Hedy willingly traded identities during the war years so that Gabrielle could, as claimed, work as a spy for the French government? But if Hedy were an accomplice to that, as a Hungarian it would have made her as much a traitor as it would have made Gabrielle a heroine. And if they did trade places did they then subsequently trade back? The Gaby Deslys that died spoke fluent French and numerous witnesses were available to attest that she introduced Madame Caire to them as her mother.

And if Hedy was not Gaby Deslys then what happened to her? Did she herself become a spy for the French government against her own people? Or a spy for her own people against the Allies? - or was the whole spy story just a complete nonsense?

For a number of years before her death until a number of years after, many newspapers did in fact take the Navratil story at face value, and accepted the assertion that Gaby Deslys was Hedwig Navratil. But France was so proud of its daughter that even the Minister of Foreign Affairs stepped in to institute an enquiry, whose report, some nine years after her death, left little doubt that Gaby Deslys was, from beginning to end, Gabrielle Caire.

Nor would the World be required to wait much longer for an answer as to the fate of Hedy Navratil. The publicity in the French press surrounding the inquiry had come to her attention and she re-emerged, alive and well, after sending a telegram to 'Le Journal' of Paris admitting her identity. In an interview, at which she produced sure proof of her identity, she gave the following explanation:

"I lived in Paris for five years and was in the capital when the war broke out. I then went to San Sebastian, where I have lived for 16 years with a friend. Before the war I traveled through Russia, Poland, what is now Czechoslovakia and Germany as a dancer, under the name of Miss Roger. While in San Sebastian I sent two express letters to my father, but they were returned unclaimed and are still in the post-office there. What my sister has said about me is correct except that I never took the name of Gaby Deslys and there must be no confusion about it. Gaby Deslys is dead and the true Edwige Navratil is very much alive. I knew Gaby Deslys in Vienna, later in London and in a gambling casino on the outskirts of Paris, which we both frequented, but only casually. Simply enough to exchange greetings and common politenesses."

So it was that, some ten years after her death, the vexed question of Gaby Deslys true identity was, it seems, finally settled. But did Hedy at any time fuel the confusion by claiming to be the famous woman she resembled so closely as even to fool her own mother?. She denied any such action in the statement she gave following her reappearance, but other evidence seems to suggest some probability that she did in fact use that resemblance to her own advantage. The 'Gaby Deslys' that defrauded the Viennese jeweller for example was positively identified as a Hungarian and was also known to her associates in Vienna by the name of Hedwig Navratil - was that Hedy?. Then there were the letters to her family, signed 'Gaby Deslys', that began their crusade. Did Hedy write them, perhaps having noticed her striking resemblance to Gaby Deslys, to impress her family or perhaps to put their minds at ease that she was doing well? The full truth will probably never be known.