Achille Claude Clarac, also known as Claude Clarac (31 August 1903 - 11 January 1999) was a French diplomat and writer.

Early life and education

Achille Claude Clarac was born on 31 August 1903 in Nantes, France.Walter Fähnders, Annemarie Schwarzenbach: Annemarie Schwarzenbach - analyzes and first editions ; with a Schwarzenbach bibliography, Aisthesis, 2005, p. 275 He studied law and entered the foreign service in 1930.

Career

In 1934 he became embassy secretary in Tehran, where he married, in May 1935, the Swiss writer and photojournalist

Annemarie Schwarzenbach Annemarie Minna Renée Schwarzenbach (23 May 1908 – 15 November 1942) was a Switzerland, Swiss writer, journalist and photographer. Her bisexual mother brought her up in a masculine style, and her androgynous image suited the Bohemianism, bohe ...

(1908-1942). He was Consul of France in Tehran until 1942. He was made "Chevalier" de la Legion d'Honneur in 1946 and promoted to "Officier" in 1953. From 31 March 1955 to 2 November 1956 he was French ambassador to Syria in Damascus. From 1959 to 1968 he was French ambassador in Thailand in Bangkok.

Personal life

According to Schwarzenbach's biographers, Clarac was gay and theirs was a marriage of convenience for both of them; to Schwarzenbach, who was lesbian, obtaining a French diplomatic passport enabled her to travel without restrictions. They were friends and when Schwarzenbach sustained a serious head injury and was dying, Clarac rushed from Tehran to her deathbed in Engadin, but Schwarzenbach's mother,

Renée Schwarzenbach-Wille Marie Renée Schwarzenbach since 1904 Schwarzenbach-Wille (née Wille; September 4, 1883 - April 26, 1959) was a Swiss socialite and daughter of the Swiss General Ulrich Wille. She was a granddaughter of German diplomat Count Friedrich Wilhelm v ...

, forbade everyone to see her daughter. Clarac adopted one son, Henri Pageau-Clarac. Claude Clarac died on 11 January 1999.

Works

In 1971, with Michael Smithies, he wrote ''Discovering Thailand'', published with Siam Publications. In 1973, under the pen-name of Saint Ours he wrote the gay collection of 7 stories, ''Un ange à Sodome'' (An Angel in Sodom), with the publisher Guy Authier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarac, Achille-Claude 1903 births 1999 deaths 20th-century LGBT people French writers LGBT diplomats French LGBT writers