Profile Text
Dombasle in 2016, Denis Makarenko /bigstock.com
Birth Name: Arielle Laure Maxime Sonnery
Place of Birth: Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Date of Birth: April 27, 1953
Ethnicity: French, some Italian
Arielle Dombasle is an American-French singer, actress, director, model, and vedette. Her roles include the films Tess (1979), Pauline at the Beach , The Blue Villa , Amazon (2000), Savage Souls , Two (2002), and Crédit pour tous ; the mini-series Lace and Lace II , and the show Miami Vice .
She was born in Hartford, Connecticut, to French parents, Françoise/Francion Garreau-Dombasle and Jean-Louis Melchior Sonnery de Fromental, a silk manufacturer. Her father was from a wealthy family, from Lyon. She grew up between New York, Mexico, and France, including at the Château de Chaintré, the family estate near Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire. Arielle is married to philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy . She holds dual U.S. and French citizenship.
Arielle’s paternal grandfather was René Yvan Marie Sonnery (the son of Jean Pierre Xavier Louis Sonnery-Cottet and Marie Thérèze Martin). René was born in Lyon, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpe, to parents from Tarare, Rhône. He was an industrialist. Jean Pierre was the son of Jean Sonnery and Marie Mélanie Dufez/Dufay/Duffez. Arielle’s great-grandmother Marie Thérèze was the daughter of Jean-Baptiste Jules Martin and Louise Eléonore Gubian.
Arielle’s paternal grandmother was Anne-Marie Maxime Berthon du Fromental (the daughter of Melchior Benjamin Gaston Aubin Berthon du Fromental and Berthe Maxime Henriette Blondet). Anne-Marie was born in Rhone-Alpes, Fleurie, Rhône, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Melchior was born in Saint-Etienne, Loire, the son of Melchior Charles Berthon du Fromental and Jeanne Coullard-Descos. Arielle’s great-grandmother Berthe was from Charolles, Saône et Loire department, Bourgogne, the daughter of Alfred Blondet and Marie Meilheurat.
Arielle’s maternal grandfather was Maurice Garreau-Dombasle (the son of Ferdinand Garreau-Dombasle and Elisabeth Fabre). Maurice was the French consul in Kolkata, India, and the Free France ambassador in the U.S. and Mexico during WWII. He was a close friend of and advisor to French president Charles de Gaulle, and co-founded France Forever, a French patriotic movement of expatriates during WWII. Arielle’s great-grandfather Ferdinand was born in Paris, the son of Adrien Garreau and Gabrielle Adélaide Mathieu de Dombasle.
Arielle’s maternal grandmother was Germaine Alice Masset/Massenet, known as Man’ha Garreau-Dombasle (the daughter of Edouard Hilaire Masset and Fanny Miccio). Man’ha was born in Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, and was a writer, poet, and translator. Fanny was born in Naples, Campania, Italy.
Sources: Genealogies of Arielle Dombasle – https://www.geni.com https://gw.geneanet.org