Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan) (15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian and Greek descent, a poet and a

socialist feminist Socialist feminism rose in the 1960s and 1970s as an offshoot of the feminist movement and New Left that focuses upon the interconnectivity of the patriarchy and capitalism. However, the ways in which women's private, domestic, and public roles ...

Biography

Personal life

Born Princess Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan in Paris, she was a descendant of the Bibescu and Craioveşti families of Romanian

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including Kievan Rus', Bulgaria, Russia, Wallachia and Moldavia, and later Romania, Lithuania and among Baltic Germans. Boyars wer ...

. Her father was Prince Grégoire Bibesco-Bassaraba, a son of Wallachian Prince Gheorghe Bibesco and Zoe Mavrocordato-Bassaraba de Brancovan. Her

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

mother was the former Ralouka (Rachel) Mussurus, a musician, to whom the Polish composer

Ignacy Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (; – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versaill ...

dedicated several of his compositions. Via her mother, Anna de Noailles was a great-great-granddaughter of

Sophronius of Vratsa Saint Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; bg, Софроний Врачански; 1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov ( bg, Стойко Владиславов), was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bu ...

, one of the leading figures of the

Bulgarian National Revival The Bulgarian National Revival ( bg, Българско национално възраждане, ''Balgarsko natsionalno vazrazhdane'' or simply: Възраждане, ''Vazrazhdane'', and tr, Bulgar ulus canlanması) sometimes called the Bu ...

, through his grandson

Stefan Bogoridi Prince ('' Knyaz'' or ''Bey'') Stefan Bogoridi (born Стойко Цонков Стойков, ''Stoyko Tsonkov Stoykov''; ; ; ; ; 1775 or 1780–August 1, 1859) was a high-ranking Ottoman statesman of Bulgarian origin, grandson of Sophron ...

, caimacam of Moldavia. In 1897 she married Mathieu Fernand Frédéric Pascal de Noailles (1873–1942), the fourth son of the 7th Duke de Noailles. The couple soon became the toast of Parisian high society. They had one child, a son, Count Anne-Jules de Noailles (1900–1979).

Career

Countess Mathieu de Noailles, by Ignacio Zuloaga

Anna de Noailles wrote three novels, an autobiography, and many collections of poetry. She had friendly relations with the intellectual, literary and artistic elite of the day including Marcel Proust, Francis Jammes,

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

Frédéric Mistral Joseph Étienne Frédéric Mistral (; oc, Josèp Estève Frederic Mistral, 8 September 1830 – 25 March 1914) was a French writer of Occitan literature and lexicographer of the Provençal form of the language. He received the 1904 Nobel ...

, Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac, Rainer Maria Rilke,

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, mus ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica El ...

, Paul Hervieu, and

Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic ca ...

. A ''New York Times'' writer in 1929 wrote that she was "one of the finest poets of present-day France." She died in 1933 in Paris, aged 56, and was interred in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (french: Cimetière du Père-Lachaise ; formerly , "East Cemetery") is the largest cemetery in Paris, France (). With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Notable figure ...

. She was a cousin of Prince

Antoine Bibesco Prince Antoine Bibesco ( ro, Prințul Anton Bibescu; July 19, 1878 – September 2, 1951) was a Romanian aristocrat, lawyer, diplomat, and writer. Biography His father was Prince Alexandre Bibesco, the last surviving son of the ''hospodar'' ...

and Princess Marthe Bibesco. Anna_de_Noailles_Dornac

In fine art

So popular was Anna de Noailles that various notable artists of the day painted her portrait, including

Antonio de la Gandara Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...

Ignacio Zuloaga Ignacio Zuloaga y Zabaleta (July 26, 1870October 31, 1945) was a Spanish painter, born in Eibar (Guipuzcoa), near the monastery of Loyola. Family He was the son of metalworker and damascener Plácido Zuloaga and grandson of the organizer and ...

Kees van Dongen Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by the Hague School and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a r ...

Jacques Émile Blanche Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

, and the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

portrait painter Philip de László. In 1906 her image was sculpted by Auguste Rodin; the clay model can be seen today in the

Musée Rodin The Musée Rodin ( en, Rodin Museum) in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919, primarily dedicated to the works of the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. It has two sites: the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds in central Paris, as ...

in Paris, and the finished marble bust is on display in New York's

Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. File:Forain_-_Anna_de_Noailles.jpg, Anna, Comtesse de Noailles, 1914 by

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was ...

File:Anna_De_Noailles_-_Vevey_-_03.jpg , Anna, Comtesse de Noailles, 1936 by James Vibert

Awards

Anna de Noailles was the first woman to become a Commander of the Legion of Honor, the first woman to be received in the Royal Belgian Academy of French Language and Literature, and she was honored with the "Grand Prix" of the Académie Française in 1921.Catherine Perry, ''Sensual Deviations and Verbal Abuse: Anna de Noailles in the Critic's Eye'', in Diana Holmes and Carrie Tarr, Eds., ''A 'Belle Epoque'? Women in French Society and Culture 1890-1914.'' Oxford and New York: Berghahn Books, 2006, p.239. Countess de Noailles served as a juror with

Florence Meyer Blumenthal Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) was an American philanthropist who founded the ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-American Florence Blumenthal Foundation),'' which awarded the Prix Blumenthal from 1919-1954 to paint ...

in awarding the

Prix Blumenthal The Prix Blumenthal (or ''Blumenthal Prize'') was a grant or stipend awarded through the philanthropy of Florence Meyer Blumenthal (1875–1930) – and the foundation she created, ''Fondation franco-américaine Florence Blumenthal (Franco-Amer ...

, a grant given between 1919–1954 to painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians.

Writings

*''Le Cœur innombrable'' (1901) *''L'Ombre des jours'' (1902) *''La Nouvelle Espérance'' (1903) *''Le Visage émerveillé'' (1904) *''La Domination'' (1905) *''Les Éblouissements'' (1907) *''Les Vivants et les Morts'' (1913) *''Les Forces éternelles'' (1920) *''Les Innocentes, ou La Sagesse des femmes'' (1923) *''Poème de l'amour'' (1924) *''L'Honneur de souffrir'' (1927) *''Exactitudes, Paris'' (1930) *''Le Livre de ma vie'' (1932) *''Derniers Vers et Poèmes d'enfance'' (1934)

References

External links

Website on Anna de Noailles
in both English and French
Anna de Noailles' Blog
in English
A Swiss blog
on Anna de Noailles, in French
The Anna de Noailles Circle in FranceCatalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France
from which it is now possible to download Anna de Noailles' works for free * *
The Anna de Noailles french school in Bucharest, Romania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noailles, Anne De 1876 births 1933 deaths Writers from Paris French artists' models

Anne de Noailles Anne de Noailles, 1st Duke of Noailles (died 15 February 1678) was the great-grandson of Antoine, 1st comte de Noailles. He played an important part in the Fronde and the early years of the reign of Louis XIV, became captain-general of the newl ...

Princes Bibescu Romanian princesses Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French nobility French memoirists French poets French women novelists French people of Greek descent Commandeurs of the Légion d'honneur French people of Romanian descent Romanian women writers Romanian writers Romanian writers in French Prix Blumenthal French women memoirists French women poets Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique French socialist feminists 20th-century memoirists Romanian socialist feminists