Franciscus Dumont
(c. 1772 - after 1845) France - Denmark
Milliner
Dumont immigrated to Denmark from France around 1800 and became a successful and quite wealthy milliner, owning a shop on one of the main streets of Copenhagen and a factory producing artificial flowers. He married and had a daughter. Dumont was also the central figure of a small circle of men inclined to homosexuality. The identity of 11 of these men is known.
Sexual activity was to a large extent directed towards young officers and soldiers. When the 16-year-old cadet Christian Fr. Schiøtt confessed in 1814 to his superiors that he had committed sexual acts with most of these men and a few others, they were, ery discretely, interrogated by a specially appointed judge.
They all denied Schiøtt's allegation. Three men who did not belong to the group confessed to sodomy with Schiøtt. The government decided that silence on the matter had first priority and by Royal Order-in-Cabinet "severe warnings" were issued. Schiøtt was exiled to the Danish West Indies. Before Dumont could be officially warned, he left for France. He returned later and is known to have lived in Copenhagen in 1845.
Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII, Routledge, London, 2001
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