Aristides Damalas (Greek: Aριστεíδης Δαμαλάς, alternative spellings Aristidis or Aristide), known in France by the stage name Jacques Damala, (15 January 1855 – 18 June 1889), was a Greek military officer-turned-actor, who is mostly remembered as being husband to Sarah Bernhardt for a number of years. Damala's characterization by modern researchers is far from positive. His handsomeness was as notable as his insolence and Don Juan quality. Writer Fredy Germanos describes him as an opportunistic and hedonistic person, whose marriage to the great diva would inevitably intensify and maximize his vices, namely, his vanity and obsession with women, alcohol, and drugs.

Biography

Diplomatic career and notorious social life

Damala was born at Piraeus, Greece on 15 January 1855 Genealogy of Damala to an aristocratic family. He was the second of three children to Ambrosios (Ambrouzis) Damalas (2 June 1808 – 29 July 1869), a wealthy shipping magnate, who later served as mayor of Ermoupoli and Piraeus and his wife, Calliope Ralli (6 June 1829 – 14 February 1891), whose father, Loukas Rallis, had also once served as mayor of Piraeus and was a member of the Executive Committee which attempted the liberation of Chios in 1827, during the Greek War of Independence. The family later moved to Marseille, France, where they spent several years, until they relocated to Ermoupoli, Syros, after Ambrosios was appointed mayor there. The family later returned to Marseille and eventually to Piraeus.

After finishing school in Piraeus, Damala spent four years abroad, mainly in England and France, where he pursued diplomatic studies. During his time abroad, he became acquainted with representatives of high society, as well as representatives of the theatre world, since he was having the dream of excelling as an actor one day. He returned to Greece in 1878 and recruited in the army. He was later trained in the Page Corps in Russia but eventually decided to drop his studies there and return to Paris My Life and Loves, p. 923.