La traviata, an opera that has moved audiences to tears since its premiere in Venice in 1853, was based on a true story of prostitution, obsession and love.
Marie Duplessis was born in 1824 to a humble family in Nonant-le-Pin, in north-western France. Hers is the classic rags-to-riches story, complete with a mother who died when she was young and an alcoholic father. When she was 15, she moved to Paris and succeeded in finding work in a dress shop.