In 1896, Belém became rich by selling Amazonian rubber to the world, overnight enriching the farmers who built their lavish mansions using European materials, while their wives and daughters sent their clothes to the Old Continent to be laundered and imported mineral water from London for their baths.
The "Theatro da Paz" was the center of cultural life in the Amazon, hosting concerts by European artists. Among them, one artist particularly caught the public's attention – the beautiful French opera singer Camille Monfort (1869 – 1896), who stirred indescribable desires in the wealthy gentlemen of the region and provoked fierce jealousy in their wives due to her great beauty.
Camille Monfort also caused outrage due to her free-spirited behavior, defying the social conventions of her time. Legend has it that she was seen semi-naked, dancing through the streets of Belém, refreshing herself in the afternoon rain. Her solitary nocturnal walks, wearing long black and ethereal dresses under the full moon, along the banks of the Guajará River toward Igarapé das Almas, also aroused curiosity.
Soon, rumors swirled around her, and malicious comments started to spread. It was said that she was the lover of Francisco Bolonha (1872 – 1938), who had brought her from Europe, and that he would bathe her in expensive European champagnes in the bathtub of his mansion.
There were also rumors that she had been attacked by vampirism in London, evident from her pallor and sickly appearance, and that she had brought this great evil to the Amazon, having mysterious cravings for human blood. Some even claimed that she hypnotized young girls with her voice during her concerts, luring them to sleep in her dressing room, allowing the mysterious lady to reach their necks. Strangely enough, there were reports of fainting spells in the theater during her concerts, which were simply attributed to the strong emotions her music evoked in the audience.
It was also said that she had the power to communicate with the dead and materialize their spirits in dense ethereal mists of ectoplasmic matter expelled from her own body during mediumistic sessions. Undoubtedly, these were the first manifestations of what would later be called spiritualism, practiced in mysterious cults in Belém's palaces, such as the Palacete Pinho.
By the end of 1896, a terrible cholera outbreak swept through the city of Belém, claiming Camille Monfort as one of its victims, who was buried in the Cemetery of Solitude.
Today, her tomb remains there, covered in slime, moss, and dried leaves, beneath an enormous mango tree casting its shadow, only occasionally lit by rays of sunlight seeping through the green foliage.
It is a neol mausoleum with a door sealed by an old rusted padlock, revealing a white marble bust of a female figure on the broad tomb cover, and attached to the wall, a small framed picture of a woman dressed in black.
On her gravestone, one can read the inscription:
"Here lies Camila María Monfort (1869-1896) The voice that captivated the world."
But there are those who still claim to this day that her tomb is empty, that her death and burial were nothing more than a cover-up for her case of vampirism, and that Camille Monfort still lives in Europe, now at the age of 154 years.
(The original image has been retouched to enhance the details. And no, she is not holding a mobile phone in her hands, it's a small notebook).