THE DUPLICITOUS DUO STRIKES AGAIN
In spite of his illness, Rinaldo pursued his legal battle with his enemies;
on July 7, 1976, he won his lawsuit. The "documents" fabricated by the de Fontenay
couple were declared null and void and that Rinaldo was to remain always as the
president. Geneviève Mulmann was expelled and Louis Poirot was forbidden to
participate any more in all activities related to Comité Miss France-Miss Europe-Miss Univers.
The headquarters was moved from Saint Cloud back to Paris, as it should have been,
and new members were installed. Antoine de Villejoie replaced Mulmann as Secretary-General.
The press picked up on this story; the newspaper Le Meilleur entitled it "The 'Miss'
Scandal. Madame Poirot Expelled from Comité Miss France." While
CMF rectified its rules, Poirot persevered in his disorderly conduct by slandering
his rivals and filing lawsuits against them. Geneviève Mulmann, like a true disciple,
assisted her master, even surpassing him. Rinaldo did not have any clue that the
Duplicitous Duo were plotting even something more grand.
On August 19, 1976 the Journal Officiel published the transfer of the CMF headquarters
to Paris, but Poirot continued to behave as if nothing had changed. The Duplicitous
Duo's penchant for ploys resurfaced when they submitted new documents to the Prefectures
of Paris and Boulogne-Billancourt, making everyone believe that CMF had added
new titles and its headquarters moved back to Saint Cloud. For example, on
November 10, 1976, two months after her expulsion, Geneviève Mulmann and Poirot
submitted a change of committee title and a confirmation of the transfer of headquarters
to Saint Cloud. The original committee name - Comité Miss France/Miss Europe/Miss Univers -
was illegally changed to Comité Miss France/Miss Europe/Miss Univers/Miss Monde/Miss
Internationale, with Louis Poirot de Fontenay as president. The Journal Officiel
picked up on this incident and published it.
Issuing false documents was not the
only craft in which the Duplicitous Duo excelled; they were also good in appropriating
"beauty queens" that were never officially elected. A certain Yvette Labrousse
was "crowned" as Miss France of 1932; Labrousse eventually married Prince Aga Khan and
earned the nickname "La Begum".
De Villejoie met Labrousse in Cannes several years later and took pictures of her;
however, Labrousse refused to discuss her election as Miss France with the photographer.
Then, Geneviève Mulmann approached a beautiful young woman named Christiane Martel
who won the title of Miss Cinémonde and was eventually chosen by Rinaldo as Miss France 1953.
Another girl, Claudine Auger, the "James Bond girl" of the 1960s, was also chosen
as Miss Cinémonde and not Miss France as Mulmann would have the public believe.
Poirot also handpicked popular bombshells Dalida, Gina Lollobrigida, Sophia Loren
and Anita Ekberg and gave a beauty queen title to all of them. Finally, Poirot
even gave two titles to Mulmann - "Miss Lorraine" (after a French province) and
"Miss Elégance". To this day, Mulmann holds on to these titles, but there
are no photos that would otherwise support her claims. Even
Lorraine's major newspaper, Républicain lorrain, could not find any trace of
Mulmann's supposed coronation. And when people ask Mulmann about the origins of her aristocratic
last name and her two "beauty titles," she would simple respond with aplomb, "Mais
c'est de notoriété publique!" ("But it's common knowledge!") She has been lying
for so long that the media - who has been seduced by her big hats and daunting
charisma - has chosen to believe in everything she says.
WHO IS LOUIS POIROT?
A HISTORY OF DECEPTION
• Louis Pierre Joseph POIROT was born in Paris on October 23, 1906. Poirot's original birth certificate
never showed the name "de Fontenay" on it. He was married twice, but never with Geneviève Mulmann with whom
he had two other children, Ludovic and Xavier.
• In 1938, Poirot, along with a friend named Jean Lombard, were arrested for fraud.
The two men pretended to be social workers and organized events to raise funds for sick
and less fortunate people. They pocketed the money, estimated to be over two hundred
thousands francs, and never paid the artists that performed in the events.
• In 1961, Poirot selected Luce Auger as Miss France. Poirot had known that Auger was already
over 25 years of age and she was also an unmarried woman - but this did not stop Poirot
from allowing her to enter the pageant since the contest policies did not specify whether
unmarried women over the age of 25 were prohibited. Auger wanted to prove her honesty by not hiding
any information from Poirot, so she signed her application form. However, Poirot modified Auger's
description by adding the words "single, without child" - without Auger's knowledge. A few days
later after her coronation, Auger was dethroned for "having lied" about her application. Auger
sued Poirot and won. Poirot was sentenced to two months in prison and was fined for one
thousand francs. (See NEWS ARTICLE
in French and translated into English)
• Poirot was infamous for sending threatening letters and slandering some people including
several candidates, most notably Muguette Fabris, Miss France 1963.
• Poirot gave the impression that he was a former member of the French Resistance and
that he was a recipient of the Legion of Honor medal. This has been proven false.
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MISS AND MISTER "FRAUD"
With Poirot's death in 1981, Mulmann was left on her own to continue the master's
sinister ploys. On July 19, 1985, the Journal Officiel recognized Rinaldo's
committee as the sole legitimate Miss France organization. But this recognition
was insignificant to Mulmann who continued her fraudulent usage of the name Comité
Miss France. As years went by, she became even more nasty. She would send threatening
letters to Rinaldo's group and slanderous letters to the candidates themselves.
She would order her staff to send faxes, forge De Villejoie's signature, and sign
the faxes with his name. Whoever received the faxes automatically assumed that
they were sent by CMF. Mulmann's biggest fault is that she is totally incapable
of telling the truth to the media (this was the case during a press conference
in 1999 when reporters demanded an explanation from her as to
how she lost the
franchise for Miss World).
In spite of Mulmann's vindictiveness, several delegates,
sponsors and even some members of her own staff finally felt the courage to speak
out against her. In October 1995 during the coronation of a beauty queen in Lyon,
Stéphane Marrant, manufacturer of crowns and purveyor of the Miss France crown,
brought a newly designed crown to show to "Miss France 1995" and to Geneviève
Mulmann. To his shock, Mulmann took and appropriated the crown, placed it on the
head of her Miss France 1995, and told Marrant: "You owe us that crown after all
the publicity that we have done for you." The reputable crown maker filed a
complaint against Mulmann accusing her of theft and refused to collaborate with
her in future "Miss" elections.
Mulmann would do anything to thwart CMF's plans. For example, when CMF would hold
its annual election of a new queen, Mulmann would send fraudulent faxes to the
press announcing that an election had been cancelled for technical problems.
She can also be vulgar. After losing the franchise for Miss World - allegedly for not having respected the conditions
of the contract - Mulmann insulted Eric Morley (the founder of Miss World) by
calling him a "big pig." She also criticized Donald Trump; in front of televiewers, she
accused the Miss Universe pageant of being fixed and expressed her hatred towards Americans.
Not too long ago during a television show, the former "Miss Elégance", carrying a champagne bucket, remarked
to the host that she would urinate in the bucket, much to the disgust of the live
audience. The host wittily replied that the champagne
would no longer taste the same.
WOMAN OF CONTRADICTIONS
ON THE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF HER NAME & MARITAL STATUS
• "... Yes, it's my real name; I am Geneviève de Fontenay. (During the first program of
"Tout le monde en parle", a T.V. show hosted by Thierry Ardisson, Sept. 1998)
• "... my name is MULMANN... I was never married...!" ("Tout le monde en parle," June 2001)
• "It was the Resistance name of my companion during the war." (Détective, Dec. 23, 1998)
• "I was married to Louis de Fontenay." (Radio France Lorraine, June 2000)
• "It's merely a simple last name." (Le Figaro, Aug. 11, 2000)
• Mulmann's brother, Paul Mulmann wrote her biography, Geneviève et les siens in
which he states that she was married to Louis Poirot de Fontenay.
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Photo of Christiane Martel courtesy of The Miss Universe Organization.