Eva Carrière (born Marthe Béraud 1886 in France, died 1943),[1] also known as Eva C, was a fraudulent materialization medium in the early 20th century.
Béraud was born 1886 in France, the daughter of a French officer.[2][3] She became engaged to Maurice Noël, a soldier who died in the Congo from tropical disease in 1904 before the marriage could take place. Béraud lived with General Elie Noël and his wife at Villa Carmen in Algiers. She claimed she developed her psychic ability after the death of her fiancé.[4]
In 1905, she held a series of séances at Villa Carmen and sitters were invited. In these séances she claimed to materialize a spirit called Bien Boa, a 300-year-old Brahmin Hindu. However, photographs taken of Boa looked like the figure was made from a large cardboard cutout.[5] In other sittings Charles Richet reported that Boa was breathing, had moved around the room and had touched him. A photograph revealed Boa to be a man dressed up in a cloak, helmet and beard.[6]
A newspaper article in 1906 revealed that an Arab coachman known as Areski, who had previously worked at the villa, had been hired to play the part of Bien Boa and that the entire thing was a hoax. Areski wrote that he made his appearance into the room by a trapdoor. Béraud also admitted to being involved with the hoax.[7]
In 1909, Béraud changed her name to Eva Carrière (Eva C) to hide the fraud of her past and began a new career as a psychic.[8] Béraud had a sexual relationship with a woman 25 years her elder, Juliette Bisson (1861–1956), with whom she performed during her seances.[9]
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