Umm-El-Banine Assadoulaeff (Umm El-Banu Äsâdullayeva; 18 December 1905 – 23 October 1992) was a French writer of Azerbaijani descent who wrote under the

penname A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of Banine.

Biography

She was a granddaughter of Azerbaijani

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

Musa Nagiyev and daughter of Azerbaijani businessman and politician

Mirza Asadullayev Mirza Asadullayev Shamsi oghlu ( az, Mirzə Əsədullayev Şəmsi oğlu; 1875–1936) was an Azerbaijani industrial magnate, philanthropist and statesman who served as Minister of Industry and Trade in the third cabinet of Azerbaijan Democratic R ...

. Banine emigrated to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in 1923 following her father, a former minister in the government of the

Azerbaijan Democratic Republic The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic), or simply as Azerbaijan in Paris Peace Conference, 1919–1920,''Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan'', No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6–7''125 H.C.Debs.'', 58., February 24, 1920, p. 1467. Caucasian Az ...

(December 1918-April 1920). She moved to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

where she abandoned her husband whom she had been forced to marry at the age of fifteen and then fled to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. There, after many years, literary acquaintances, including

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant o ...

Nikos Kazantzakis Nikos Kazantzakis ( el, ; 2 March ( OS 18 February) 188326 October 1957) was a Greek writer. Widely considered a giant of modern Greek literature, he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years. Kazantzakis's no ...

, and

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

urged her to publish. Banine dedicated her later life to introducing the history and culture of Azerbaijan to France and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Her most famous writings are ''Days in the Causasus'' and ''Parisian Days''. Banine, who was the friend of the German writer

Ernst Jünger Ernst Jünger (; 29 March 1895 – 17 February 1998) was a German author, highly decorated soldier, philosopher, and entomologist who became publicly known for his World War I memoir '' Storm of Steel''. The son of a successful businessman and ...

and Russian

Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) was the first Russian writer awarded the ...

, tells about her conversion to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

in her books. Banine published several articles about the situation in Azerbaijan. She died in October 1992. Her obituary in the newspaper ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'' called her "one of those personages of La vie romanesque who traverse a century, attracting like a lodestone all the singular figures of their times".William Pfaff. The Bullet's Song: Romantic Violence and Utopia.

Major works

* ''Nami'' (''Nami''), Gallimard, 1942. * ''Days in the Caucasus'' (''Jours caucasiens''), Julliard, 1946. * ''Parisian Days'' (''Jours parisiens''), Julliard, 1947, Gris Banal, 2003. * ''Meetings with

'' (''Rencontres avec Ernst Jünger''), Julliard, 1951. * ''I chose opium'' (''J'ai choisi l'opium''), Stock, 1959. * ''After'' (''Après''), Stock, 1962. * ''Foreign France'' (''La France étrangère''), S.O.S Desclée de Brouwer, 1968. * ''The call of the last chance'' (''L'appel de la dernière chance''), S.O.S, 1971. * ''Portrait of Ernst Jünger: letters, texts, meetings'' (''Portrait d'Ernst Jünger : lettres, textes, rencontres''), La Table Ronde, 1971. * ''Ernst Jünger multiple faces'' (''Ernst Jünger aux faces multiples''), Lausanne, éditions L'Âge d'Homme, 1989. * ''What Mary told me: the tale of Mary's servant'' (''Ce que Marie m’a raconté : le dit de la Servante de Marie''), Cahier Bleus, 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banine 1905 births 1992 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers French people of Azerbaijani descent Azerbaijani novelists Azerbaijani women novelists 20th-century Azerbaijani novelists 20th-century French women writers 20th-century Azerbaijani women writers 20th-century Azerbaijani writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers Soviet emigrants to France