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| Zurich in 1956 |
Name: Emma Sagesser, age 24
Born: August 16, 1887 in Aarwangen, Switzerland
Traveled with: Mme. Leontine Pauline Aubart, French singer, mistress of Benjamin Guggenheim
Ticket: First Class PC 17477, price £69, 6 shillings, paid for by Benjamin Guggenheim
Boarded Titanic at: Cherbourg, France
Cabin: B-35, shared with employer
Died: May 24, 1964 in Zurich, Switzerland
*****
Emma Sagesser was a lady's maid for French singer Mme. Leontine Pauline Aubart. Mme. Aubart was the mistress of millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim. He was estranged from his wife, Florette whom he married in 1894 and had three children, the last child in 1903. They had an arrangement. As long as Florette was kept in the style she became accustomed to as his wife, she didn't care about his affairs as long as they were kept quiet.
Benjamin Guggenheim kept a residence in Paris, France. His wife Florette Guggenheim lived in their New York City mansion with their three daughters.
Mme. Aubart lived not far from his Paris residence in a home that he paid for, including a full complement of servants as befitting her station. She was a 25-year old singer who was 22 years younger than Guggenheim. Although they lived in Paris France, they spoke only German between themselves.
When Guggenheim booked passage on the Titanic, he bought three tickets: a first-class ticket for himself and Victor Giglio (his valet) and a second-class ticket for his chauffeur, Rene' Pernot. He booked one ticket for Mme. Aubart with Emma Sagesser listed as her maid. He put them on the same ticket so they would be separate from his.
Benjamin Guggenheim's cabin was B-84. Mme. Leontine Aubart and Emma Sagesser shared cabin B-35.
There was a story published in the newspapers after Mme. Aubart survived the Titanic sinking that before leaving on the trip, she had a visitor who opened an umbrella indoors (which some viewed as bad luck) and the visitor predicted that a disaster would happen soon.
There were many stories of people having premonitions of the Titanic, most of which were conveniently shared after Titanic sank. Therefore it wasn't unusual for someone to claim that had known in advance of an impending disaster with Titanic.
In cabin B-35 on the night of April 14th, Emma had a bit of seasickness so Mme. Aubart stayed with her instead of going to Guggenheim's cabin. Emma fell asleep right away around 11pm, Leontine fell asleep shortly after.
Emma said later that she suddenly was awakened by two short bumps. She stayed in bed while Mme. Aubart went up on deck to see what it was about. When she returned to the cabin, she was very calm, said it was nothing and went back to bed.
A short time later, she told Emma about the iceberg and they decided to go to Benjamin Guggenheim's cabin. They put coats over their nightgowns and made their way to cabin B-84. Benjamin was asleep and his valet would not wake him. They finally told him the Titanic had hit an iceberg, then the valet wakened Guggenheim. He took the ladies back to cabin B-35. They put on life vests, grabbed a few valuables and went up the staircase to the Boat Deck.
When they got there, some women wanted to get in the lifeboats and others refused. A crew member urged the two ladies to get into Lifeboat #9, saying it was about to be lowered but Mme. Aubart didn't want to leave Benjamin. He told her in German "We will soon see each other again. It's just a repair, tomorrow the Titanic will go on."
Emma and Mme. Aubart got in Lifeboat #9. As they sat there waiting, Mme. Aubart kept looking back because she didn't want to leave Benjamin. At 1:30am, their boat was lowered into the ocean. They never saw Benjamin Guggenheim again.
They were rescued by the RMS Carpathia but after getting on the ship, Mme. Aubart had a nervous breakdown. Emma stayed by her side until she told her that she must send a telegram to let her sister know she was all right. The fee was charged to Benjamin Guggenheim, who by then was dead.
"To Bertha Segesser at 30 Charles BaudeLaire Paris, Sauvee Amities, Emma" (Saved, Love, Emma).
Many telegrams were as short as Emma's. With all the telegrams being sent by survivors, the wireless operator overlooked Emma's telegram. Emma learned when she got home that it was never sent.
When the two ladies recovered, they went to New York City where Mme. Aubart contacted Mrs. Guggenheim. Emma wasn't privy to the conversation, but she knew that Mrs. Guggenheim paid off Mme. Aubart to keep quiet about her affair with Benjamin and to not write about it in memoirs. She never did.
In May 1912, Emma and Mme. Aubart moved back to Paris, but Emma did not remain in her employ much longer. Up until then, Benjamin Guggenheim was paying all the bills and the money stopped with his death.
In 1917, Emma moved to Switzerland where she worked as a saleswoman in Zurich and met her husband Karl Ernst Arnold. They married in March 1926 and ran a cigar shop in Zurich until her husband died in April 1964. They had no children. Emma Sagesser Arnold died one month later at age 76 on May 24, 1964.
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Further Reading:
Benjamin Guggenheim
Emma Sagesser Arnold on Geni.com
Sources:
Titanica
Wikipedia
The Titanic Files
Geneanet.com
Sources:
Titanica
Wikipedia
The Titanic Files
Geneanet.com
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