An auction of the French film star turned animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot’s personal items fetched nearly €1m (£858,000, US$1.15m, A$1.61m) in Paris on Monday, almost 20 times the estimate, according to the auction house Millon.
uncertain
auction → turn → house
A total of 285 objects ranging from straw hats, sunglasses and nightgowns to tableware and furniture from Bardot’s homes in Saint-Tropez in south-eastern France and Paris generated tremendous enthusiasm, Agence France-Presse reported.
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Presse → range → enthusiasm
Bardot, who died in December aged 91, retired from acting in the 1970s and became an outspoken campaigner for animal rights.
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who → die → rights
She also became increasingly active politically on the far right, alienating some fans in her later life with her hardline public views on immigration.
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She → become → immigration
Bardot was convicted five times for hate speech, particularly about Muslims, and up until her death she expressed her contentment at Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party’s rising share of the vote before the 2027 presidential race.
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she → convict → race
The proceeds from the auction will go to her animal welfare foundation and to Nicolas-Jacques Charrier, her only child.
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proceeds → go → Charrier
Founded by the actor in 1986, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation says it has taken in 13,000 animals through four shelters and 150 partner facilities, supports 350 groups in France and operates in 70 countries.
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it → found → countries
About 3,000 French and international bidders registered for the auction.
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bidders → register → auction
“Brigitte Bardot has once again proved to be a remarkable alchemist: she transformed about €50,000 in estimates into nearly €1m including fees,” said the auctioneer, Alexandre Millon.
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auctioneer → prove → fees
Two dog collars, with an ID tag bearing Bardot’s name and a telephone number, estimated at €30 for the pair, were sold for €9,400 to a Russian buyer.
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collars → bear → buyer
A self-portrait fetched nearly €40,000 while the typewriter she used to write an autobiography raised €4,634.
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she → fetch → 4,634
Estimated at between €300 and €500, two of her guitars soared to €8,600 and €1,900, while three stuffed toys representing baby seals sold for nearly €2,200 .
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toys → estimate → 2,200
“This sale is the logical continuation of the one she herself organised in 1987 with her most precious belongings to create her foundation,” Ghyslaine Calmels-Bock, the managing director of the Bardot Foundation, told Agence France-Presse after the sale.
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Bock → organise → sale
“Today, her fight continues through this auction.”
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fight → continue → auction
Two days before the auction Bardot’s last husband, Bernard d’Ormale, attacked it as a “joke”.
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husband → attack → joke
“These are personal items,” he said.
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he → say → ?
He said it amounted to a “disrespect to Brigitte’s memory”.
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it → say → memory
Her belongings should have been preserved as part of her legacy, he told AFP, adding that Bardot “would not have agreed to this sale”.
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Bardot → preserve → sale
The foundation rejected the criticism, saying the auction had been approved by the board in June when the widower was its president.
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widower → reject → June
D’Ormale said he had not understood the auction would involve such personal items.
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auction → say → items
The dispute comes days after he was removed as head of the foundation, a role he had held since Bardot’s death.
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he → come → death
The Aporia
