Death
Damala was found dead in Paris in 18 August 1889, in a hotel room, from an overdose of morphine and cocaine. The news of his death were concealed from Bernhardt until the time she had finished her performance. When she found out, she is cited as saying – presumably out of mercy for his condition – : "Well, so much the better...".
Bernhardt wore mourning for a year after Damala's death. She had legally adopted his surname (i.e. Sarah Bernhardt-Damala) but never renounced it, even after her husband's death, though this was not widely known. She kept "Damala" as her legal name until she died, though her decision caused her some troubles during World War I, when an officer in a consular office at Bordeaux refused to grant her a visa to her passport, due to the fact the latter was Greek (King Constantine of Greece was thought to support the German side during the war and the French state refused to grant visas to Greek passports). It took the intervention of the Minister of Interior for Bernhardt to have her visa granted.
Read more about this topic: Jacques Damala
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