Chantal Thomas (born 18 October 1945, in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

) is a French writer and historian. Her 2002 book, ''Farewell, My Queen'', won the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

and was adapted into a 2012 film starring

Diane Kruger Diane Kruger ( Heidkrüger; ; born 15 July 1976) is a German and American actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival. Kruger became known for her roles in f ...

and

Léa Seydoux Léa Hélène Seydoux-Fornier de Clausonne (; born 1 July 1985) is a French actor. Known for her roles in both French cinema and in Hollywood she's received various accolades including the Cannes Film Festival's Trophée Chopard in 2009 as well ...

Career

Thomas was born in Lyon in 1945, and was raised in

Arcachon Arcachon ( ; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for inv ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, and

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 ...

. Her life has included teaching jobs at American and French universities (such as

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

and

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

) as well as a publishing career. She has published nineteen works, including essays on the

Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher and writer famous for his literary depictions of a libertine sexuality as well as numerous accusat ...

Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

, and

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

. In 2002, Thomas published ''Les adieux à la reine'' (''Farewell, My Queen''). The novel gave a fictional account of the final days of Marie Antoinette in power through the perspective of one of her servants. It won the

in 2002, and was later adapted into the 2012 film ''

Farewell, My Queen ''Farewell, My Queen'' (french: Les Adieux à la reine) is a 2012 French drama film directed by Benoît Jacquot and based on the novel of the same name by Chantal Thomas, who won the ''Prix Femina'' in 2002. It gives a fictional account of the l ...

''. The film stars

as the titular queen and

as her servant Sidonie Laborde. Thomas co-wrote the screenplay, and it opened the

62nd Berlin International Film Festival The 62nd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 9 to 19 February 2012. British film director Mike Leigh was the President of the Jury. The first five films to be screened in the competition were announced on 19 December 2011. Am ...

. Helen Falconer of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' called the work "a well written slice of history" with "evocative, observant prose," but criticized it for creating a narrator who "merely provides us with a pair of eyes to see through rather than capturing our interest in her own right." While disagreeing in its classification as a novel, Falconer did however add that ''Farewell, My Queen'' "generates in the reader a real sense of being a fly on the wall, eavesdropping on the affairs of the great and the not so good." Thomas is currently the director of research at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

. She was elected a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

(seat number 12) on 28 January 2021.

Works

* ''Sade, L'œil de la lettre'' (1978) * ''Casanova, Un voyage libertin'' (1985) * ''Don Juan ou Pavlov, Essai sur la communication publicitaire'' (1991) * ''La Reine scélérate, Marie-Antoinette dans les pamphlets'' (1989) *:translated into English as ''The Wicked Queen : The Origins of the Myth of Marie-Antoinette'' (1999) by Julie Rose * ''Thomas Bernhard'' (1990) * ''Sade'' (1994) * ''La Vie réelle des petites filles'' (1995) * ''Comment supporter sa liberté'' (1998) *:translated into English as ''Coping with freedom : reflections on ephemeral happiness'' (2001), by Andrea L. Secara * ''Les Adieux à la Reine'' (2002) *:translated into English as ''Farewell, My Queen'' (2003), by Moishe Black * ''La Lectrice-Adjointe'' (2003) * ''Souffrir'' (2003) * ''L'île flottante'' (2004) * ''Apolline ou L'école de la Providence'' (2005) * ''Le Palais de la reine'' (2005) * ''Chemins de sable, Conversation avec Claude Plettner'' (2006) * ''Jardinière Arlequin, Conversations avec Alain Passard'' (2006) * ''Cafés de la mémoire'' (2008) * ''Le Testament d'Olympe'' (2010) * ''L'esprit de conversation'' (2011) * ''L'Échange des princesses'' (2013) *:translated into English as ''The Exchange of Princesses'' (2014), by John Cullen * ''Un air de liberté. Variations sur l'esprit du XVIIIe siècle'' (2014) * ''Souvenirs de la marée basse'' (2017) *:translated into English as ''Memories of Low Tide'' (2019), by Natasha Lehrer * ''East Village Blues'' (2019) * ''Café Vivre. chroniques en passant'' (2020) * ''Journal de nage'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Chantal Writers from Lyon 1945 births Living people French women novelists Prix Femina winners French historical novelists Members of the Académie Française Prix Roger Caillois recipients French essayists