 Born in St Petersburg, Russian Empire as Françoise-Jeanne Schütz in 1860, her father was Russian, and her mother was French-Canadian (from Quebec).After study in Russia, Switzerland and Italy, she became multi-lingual.Then, she moved with her family to Paris, where she studied singing with Madame Barthe-Banderali for three years and took lessons with Pauline Viardot and Victor Maurel.