marguerite bellanger (10 june 1838 - 23 november 1886) was a french stage actress and courtesan. she was a celebrity of second empire france and known for her relationship with napoleon iii of france. she was often caricatured in contemporary press and is considered to be the model for émile zola's "nana". a candy is also named after her. she was reputedly the most universally loathed of napoleon iii's mistresses, though perhaps his favorite. she outlived napoleon's deposal in 1870 and died in 1886 aged 48.