Marie-Claude Delahaye is a lecturer in cellular biology at the University of Pierre and Marie Curie in Paris. She found her first absinthe spoon at a flea market in 1981 and was immediately transfixed by the 'Green Fairy'.

Spending entire days carrying out research in libraries, Marie-Claude became an absinthe historian with the publication of her first book in 1983: 'Absinthe - History of the Green Fairy'. The original edition of this book is now out of print and has become a collector's item throughout the world.

Further publications have followed which have gradually unveiled the significance of absinthe in 19th Century society, and more importantly its influence on art. At the same time, Marie-Claude searched antique shops and markets to establish an impressive collection of Absinthe memorabilia, etchings, drawings and paintings.

After organising numerous exhibitions, Marie-Claude eventually established the Musée de l'Absinthe in 1994. The museum is situated in Auvers-sur-Oise, the village famous for its painters - where Vincent van Gogh and his brother, Theo, are buried. Absinthe was the muse of painters and poets during the 19th Century and its true spirit is rekindled at the Absinthe Museum.