Profile Text
Birth Name: Maria-Hélène Schneider
Date of Birth: 27 March, 1952
Place of Birth: Paris, France
Date of Death: 3 February, 2011
Place of Death: Paris, France
Ethnicity: * father – French, Breton * mother – Alsatian German, Romanian, Moldovan, one eighth Macedonian Greek
Maria Schneider was a French actress. She is particularly known for starring in the film Last Tango in Paris . Her roles also included the films The Love Mates , The Old Maid , Hellé , Dear Parents , The Passenger , Wanted: Babysitter , Violanta (1977), A Woman Like Eve , Memoirs of a French Whore , Haine , Mama Dracula , Peacetime in Paris , Merry-Go-Round (1981), Bunker Palace Hôtel , The Conviction , Sand Screens , In the Country of Juliets , Savage Nights , Jane Eyre (1996), Something to Believe In , Actors (2000), The Repentant (2002), The Key (2007), and A French Gigolo .
Maria was the daughter of Marie-Christine Schneider, a model and runner of a bookshop, and actor Daniel Gélin (Daniel Yves Alfred Gélin). Her father was born in Angers, Maine-et-Loire.
Her paternal half-siblings were actor and film producer Xavier Gélin, and actors Manuel Gélin and Fiona Gélin; Xavier’s mother was Maria’s father’s first wife, actress and film producer Danièle Delorme, to whom he was married during Maria’s birth. Maria’s maternal uncle was writer, musicologist, énarque, senior official, and psychoanalyst Michel Schneider. She was a first cousin of journalist and writer Vanessa Schneider, who was Michel’s daughter.
Maria was a partner of Maria Pia Almadio, until her own death.
Maria’s paternal grandfather was Alfred Ernest Joseph Gélin (the son of Joseph Julien Gelin and Marie Pauline/Poline Chaigneau). Alfred was born in Vouhé, Deux-Sèvres, Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Joseph was born in Saint-Pardoux, Deux-Sèvres, the son of François Gelin and Marie Louise Foucher/Faucher. Maria’s great-grandmother Marie Pauline was born in Vouhé/La Baraudière, Deux-Sèvres, the daughter of René Chaigneau and Magdeleine Gadreau.
Maria’s paternal grandmother was Yvonne Le Méner (the daughter of Jean François Le Méner and Marie Noëlle Augustine Desbordes). Yvonne was born in Rostrenen, Côtes-d’Armor, Brittany. Jean was born in Rostrenen, the son of Yves Marie Le Méner and Marie Marguerite Le Guet. Maria’s great-grandmother Marie Noëlle was born in Plouguernével, Côtes-d’Armor, the daughter of Jean Louis Delordes/Desbordes and Marie Suzanne Raoult.
Maria’s maternal grandfather was named Ernest Laurent Schneider. Laurent was born in Paris, and was heir to a line of Alsatian brewers.
Maria’s maternal grandmother was Marthe Aglae Dite Ohé Levaditi (the daughter of Constantin Levaditi and Helen/Hélène Istrati). Marthe was born in Vaugirard, Paris. Constantin Levaditi was born in Galați, Romania, and was a physician and microbiologist, who was an important researcher in virology and immunology. He was the son of Spyridon Livaditis/Levaditi, who was of Greek descent, from Macedonia; and of Ioana Ștefănescu, whose family was Romanian, from Focșani. Maria’s great-great-grandfather Spyridon Levaditi was said to have been a member of the Filiki Eteria/Society of Friends, which organized the Greek Revolution of 1821 against the Ottoman Empire. Maria’s great-grandmother Helen was the daughter of Constantin Istrati. Constantin was born in Roman, Moldavia, now Neamț County, Romania, and was a chemist, physician, and politician; he was Romanian Minister of Public Works, from 11 April, 1899 to 9 January, 1900, Romanian Minister of Agriculture, Industry, Trade, and Domains, from 26 February, 1907 to 12 March, 1907, and Mayor of Bucharest, from October 1912 to March 1913.
Sources: Genealogy of Maria Schneider – https://gw.geneanet.org
Genealogies of Maria Schneider (focusing on her father’s side) – https://www.geni.com https://gw.geneanet.org https://www.findagrave.com
Biography of Maria’s maternal great-grandfather, Constantin Levaditi – https://www.aosr.ro