Editing Courtesan (section)

== Famous courtesans ==
This is a list of some professional courtesans. They are not [[royal mistress]]es, unless a professional courtesan was also a royal mistress.

Separately from this list, the term "courtesan" has been used in a political context in an attempt to damage the reputation of a powerful woman or disparage her importance. Because of this, there is still much historical debate over whether certain women in history were courtesans. For example, the title was applied to the Byzantine empress [[Theodora (6th century)|Theodora]], who had started life as an erotic actress, but later became the wife of the Emperor [[Justinian]] and, after her death, an [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[saint]].

===17th century and earlier===
[[File:Lais of Corinth, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|thumb|180px|right|''[[Lais of Corinth]]'' by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]], [[Kunstmuseum Basel]]]]
* [[Volumnia Cytheris]] (1st century BC), Roman mimae actress and courtesan
* [[Amrapali]] (5th century [[Common Era|BC]]), ''[[nagarvadhu]]'' dancer of [[Vaishali (ancient city)|Vaishali]], following the [[Buddha]]'s teachings she became an [[arahant]].
* [[Anarkali]] (17th-century) [[tawaif]] of Salim (later [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]] [[Jahangir]])
* [[Arib al-Ma'muniyya]] ({{langx|ar|عَرِيب المأمونية}},  797-890), ''[[qiyan]]''
* [[Faḍl al-Shāʻirah]] ({{langx|ar|فضل الشاعرة}}, d. 871 ), ''[[qiyan]]''
* [[Hwang Jini]] (fl. 1550): legendary ''[[gisaeng]]'' of the [[Joseon dynasty]]
* [[ʽInān]] ({{langx|ar|عِنان}}, d. 841), ''[[qiyan]]''
* [[Imperia Cognati]] (1486–1512), courtesan of Renaissance Rome, referred to as the "first courtesan" in Europe
* [[Kanhopatra]] (15th-century) Indian Marathi saint-poet and dancer,singer
* [[Lais of Corinth]] (5th century BC), ''[[hetaira]]''-courtesan
* [[Lais of Hyccara]] (killed 340 BC), ''[[hetaira]]''-courtesan
* [[Marion Delorme]] (c. 1613–1650): lover of [[George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham]], [[Great Conde|the Prince of Condé]], and [[Cardinal Richelieu]]
* [[Ninon de l'Enclos]] (1615–1705): lover of [[Great Conde|the Prince of Condé]] and [[Gaspard IV de Coligny|Gaspard de Coligny]]
* [[Phryne]] (4th century BC), ''[[hetaira]]''-courtesan
* [[Praecia]] (fl. 73 BC), Roman courtesan
* [[Shāriyah]] ({{langx|ar|شارِية}}, {{circa|lk=no|815}}-870), ''[[qiyan]]''
* [[Takao II]] (高尾, 1640–1659), Japanese ''[[oiran]]''-courtesan
* [[Thaïs]] (4th century BC), ''[[hetaira]]''-courtesan
* [[Theodora (6th century)]] ({{circa|500}}–June 28, 548), Byzantine actress-courtesan, later wife of [[Justinian I]] of the [[Byzantine Empire]]
* [[List of Italian Renaissance courtesans]]:
** [[File:Courtesan - Unknown - 19 1927 2 89.jpg|thumb|This lady is probably a courtesan or tawaif. She would be accomplished in the arts of music, dancing and poetry and would entertain the men of the court, particularly in Moghul India. Her elegance and expensive gold-embroidered veil show her high status.]][[Tullia d'Aragona]] ({{circa|lk=no|1510}}–1556): top courtesan in several Italian cities, and published poet
** [[Veronica Franco]] (1546–1591): a Venetian ''cortigiana onesta'' courtesan who was once lover to King [[Henry III of France]] and was depicted in the movie [[Dangerous Beauty]]
* [[Yu Gam-dong]] (15th-century), Korean courtesan
* [[Du Shiniang]], China Ming dynasty courtesan

=== 18th and 19th centuries ===
[[File:Mary Nesbitt.jpg|thumb|[[Mary Nesbitt]]]]
[[File:Cora Pearl.jpg|thumb|[[Cora Pearl]]]]

* [[Binodini Dasi]] (1862–1941), Indian [[tawaif]]-actress
* [[Blanche d'Antigny]] (1840–1874), French courtesan; [[Émile Zola]] used her as the principal model for his novel ''[[Nana (novel)|Nana]]''
* [[Catherine Walters]] (1839–1920), British courtesan
* [[Charlotte Slottsberg]] (1760–1800), Swedish courtesan-ballerina, lover, but not official royal mistress of [[Charles XIII]] of Sweden
* [[Claudine Guérin de Tencin]] (1681–1749), French courtesan and later a famous salonnière
* [[Cora Pearl]] (1836–1886), ''[[demimonde]]''-courtesan ("Grande Horizontale") of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]]
* [[The Countess (trans woman)|The Countess]], also known as Pauline, a French transgender courtesan and singer in Paris of the 1850s and 1860s
* [[Dorothea Jordan|Dorothy Jordan]] (1761–1816), British courtesan-actress
* [[Eliza Lynch]] (1835–1886), Irish courtesan, de facto wife of [[Francisco Solano López]], president of Paraguay
* [[Emma, Lady Hamilton|Emma Hamilton]] (1765–1815), English model-actress, wife of [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]] and mistress of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]]
* [[Grace Elliott]] (1754?–1823), British courtesan
* [[Harriette Wilson]] (1786–1846), British courtesan
* [[Josefa Ordóñez]] (1728 – d. ''after'' 1792), Mexican courtesan-actress
* [[Kitty Fisher]] (died 1767), British courtesan and model
* [[La Belle Otero]] (1868–1965), Spanish courtesan
* [[La Païva]] (1819–1884), French ''[[demimonde]]''-courtesan ('Grande Horizontale') of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]]
* [[Liane de Pougy]] (1869–1950), French courtesan and [[Folies Bergère]]-dancer
* [[Lola Montez]] (1821–1861), Irish dancer, mistress of king [[Ludwig&nbsp;I of Bavaria]]
* [[Madame du Barry]] (1743–1793), French courtesan, last [[Maîtresse-en-titre]] of [[Louis XV of France]]
* [[Mah Laqa Bai]] (7 April 1768 – August 1824), Indian [[tawaif]] and poet
* [[Marie Duplessis]] (1824–1847), French courtesan, one of the best known from the era of Louis Philippe
* [[Marie-Louise O'Murphy]] (1737–1814), French courtesan, lover, but not official royal mistress of [[Louis XV of France]]
* [[Marthe de Florian]] (1864–1939), French courtesan and socialite
* [[Mary Nesbitt]] (1742–1825), British courtesan and spy
* [[Mata Hari]] (1876–1917), courtesan and spy
* [[Olympe Pélissier]] (1799–1878), French courtesan and model, second wife of [[Gioachino Rossini]]
* [[Rosalie Duthé]] (1748–1830), French courtesan, has been called "the first officially recorded [[blonde stereotype|dumb blonde]]"
* [[Sai Jinhua]] (1872–1936), Chinese courtesan
* [[Sophia Baddeley]] (1745–1786), British courtesan
* [[Støvlet-Cathrine]] (1745–1805), Danish courtesan, lover, but not official royal mistress of King [[Christian VII of Denmark]]
* [[Zofia Potocka]] (1760–1822), Greek courtesan, mistress of [[Grigory Potemkin]] and wife of [[Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki|Szczęsny Potocki]]

===20th century===
* [[Marguerite Alibert]] (1890–1971), French courtesan, lover, but not official royal mistress of Prince [[Edward VIII|Edward]]


===In fiction===
* Angellica Bianca in [[Aphra Behn]]'s 1677 play ''[[The Rover (play)|The Rover]]''.
* [[Bianca (Othello)|Bianca]] in [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Othello]]'' is considered a courtesan to Cassio.
* Bianca, who appears in [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[The Vampire Armand]]'', is a courtesan.
* In [[John Cleland]]'s ''[[Fanny Hill]]: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', Fanny goes from poor orphaned country girl to wealthy skilled courtesan eventually finding her one true love and retiring to marriage. Her history is told in the first person through several letters to friends detailing her life as a courtesan.
* In [[Sarah Dunant]]'s ''[[In the Company of the Courtesan (Dunant)|In the Company of the Courtesan]]'', Fiammetta Bianchini, a renowned courtesan of [[Rome]], and her sharp-witted dwarf rise to success among the intrigue and secrets of Renaissance Venice.
* In the book ''[[A Great and Terrible Beauty]]'', Pippa accuses Felicity of having a mother who is a courtesan and a consort, and who ran away to France not only to run a salon, but to be with her lover, a Frenchman.
* [[Inara Serra]] is a 26th-century [[Alliance (Firefly)|Alliance]] [[Companion (Firefly)|companion]], a position inspired by courtesans, in [[Joss Whedon]]'s TV series ''[[Firefly (TV series)|Firefly]]''.
* Kamala, in [[Hermann Hesse]]'s ''[[Siddhartha (novel)|Siddhartha]]''.
* [[Komagata Yumi]] in the manga ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''.
* ''[[La Dame aux Camélias]]'' is a novel about a courtesan by French author [[Alexandre Dumas, fils]] that was turned into the opera ''[[La Traviata]]'' by Italian composer [[Giuseppe Verdi]]. In the novel, the courtesan's name is Marguerite Gautier; in the opera, it is Violetta Valéry. "La Traviata" in Italian translates "The Wayward One".
* Lysandra in the book series ''[[Throne of Glass]]'' by [[Sarah J. Maas]], a shape-shifting courtesan working to pay off her debts and care for her rescued acolyte, Evangeline.
* Madame Gabrielle from [[Dora Levy Mossanen]]. ''Courtesan: A Novel''. Touchstone, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7432-4678-0}}
* Magda in Puccini's ''[[La rondine]]''.
* Many examples in [[Indian literature]] and [[Bollywood]] films:  [[tawaif]] Sahibjaan in ''[[Pakeezah]]'', [[tawaif]] Umrao Jaan in the Urdu novel ''[[Umrao Jaan Ada]]'' and its adaptations, [[tawaif]] Chandramukhi in ''[[Devdas]]''.
* [[Mira Nair]]'s 1996 film ''[[Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love]]'' highlights the profession of courtesans in 16th-century India, featuring Rasa Devi ([[Rekha]]) and Maya ([[Indira Varma]]).
* [[Nana (novel)|Nana]], in [[Emile Zola]]'s [[:wikt:eponym|eponym]]ous novel of 1880 is a courtesan.
* Odette de Crecy from Marcel Proust's ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' is a courtesan of the French Belle Epoque, she gains a notorious reputation from cavorting with aristocrats, artists and bourgeois, of both sexes.
* Paola and Sister Teodora were the leaders of the courtesans of Florence and Venice (respectively) in the video game ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]''. In its sequel, ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'', Madame Solari is shown to be the leader of the courtesans in Rome. Courtesans also provide a gameplay mechanic in the two games, main character [[Ezio Auditore]] can hire small groups of courtesans that can be used to escort the assassin without being noticed, and to distract hostile guards.
* Phèdre nó Delaunay, the premier courtesan of Terre D'Ange in [[Jacqueline Carey]]'s ''[[Kushiel's Legacy]]'' novels.
* Satine, played by [[Nicole Kidman]], an actress/courtesan who falls in love with a penniless poet/writer played by [[Ewan McGregor]], in [[Baz Luhrmann]]'s 2001 film, ''[[Moulin Rouge!]]''.
* Sha'ira, an asari "Consort" from the ''[[Mass Effect (series)|Mass Effect]]'' computer game series.
* The Broadway plays, musicals, and movies based upon the book ''[[Gigi (novella)|Gigi]]'' are about a young Parisian girl who is being trained to be a courtesan by her great-aunt, a retired career courtesan herself.
* [[Ulla Winblad]], in the famous 18th-century poems of [[Carl Michael Bellman]].
* [[Vasantasena]], a [[nagarvadhu]] in the ancient Indian Sanskrit play ''[[Mṛcchakatika]]'' by [[Śūdraka]].
* Vittoria Corombona in [[John Webster]]'s play ''[[The White Devil]]''. She is described in the alternative title of the play as 'the famous Venetian Curtizan'.
* In the movie [[Balls of Fury]], [[Diedrich Bader]] plays one of Feng's many, all-male courtesans of pleasure.
* [[Chéri (novel)|Chéri]], written by French author [[Colette]], is about an aging courtesan named Léa de Lonval, who is near the end of her most intense love affair, with Fred Peloux- known as Chéri to almost everyone around him.