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 1944 novella '' Gigi'', which was the basis for the 1958 film and the 1973 stage production of the same name. Her short story collection '' The Tendrils of the Vine'' is also famous in France.

Life and career

Family and background

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born on 28 January 1873 to war hero and tax collector Jules-Joseph Colette (1829–1905) and his wife Adèle Eugénie Sidonie ("Sido"), ''née'' Landoy (1835–1912), in the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye in the department of Yonne,

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

. Jules-Joseph Colette was a

Zouave The Zouaves were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army serving between 1830 and 1962 and linked to French North Africa; as well as some units of other countries modelled upon them. The zouaves were among the most decorated unit ...

of the Saint-Cyr military school. A war hero who had lost a leg in the Second Italian War of Independence, he was awarded a post as tax collector in the village of Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye where his children were born. Colette was the youngest of four children. She had three older siblings: an older maternal half-sister, Héloïse (1860–1908), an older maternal half-brother, Edmé (1863–1913), and a full older brother, Léopold (1866–?). Colette attended a public school from the ages of 6 to 17. The family was initially well off, but poor financial management substantially reduced their income.

Early years, 1873–1912

In 1893, Colette married Henry Gauthier-Villars (1859–1931), a well-known author and publisher who used the

pen name 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 ...

"Willy.". Her first four novels – the four Claudine stories: ''Claudine à l'école'' (1900), ''Claudine à Paris'' (1901), ''Claudine en ménage'' (1902), and ''Claudine s'en va'' (1903) – appeared under his name. (The four are published in English as ''Claudine at School'', ''Claudine in Paris'', ''Claudine Married'', and ''Claudine and Annie''). The novels chart the coming of age and young adulthood of their titular heroine, Claudine, from an unconventional fifteen-year-old in a Burgundian village to a doyenne of the literary salons of turn-of-the-century Paris. The story they tell is semi-autobiographical, although Claudine, unlike Colette, is motherless. The marriage to Gauthier-Villars allowed Colette to devote her time to writing. She later said she would never have become a writer if it had not been for Willy. Fourteen years older than his wife and one of the most notorious

libertine A libertine is a person devoid of most moral principles, a sense of responsibility, or sexual restraints, which they see as unnecessary or undesirable, and is especially someone who ignores or even spurns accepted morals and forms of behaviour ob ...

s in Paris, he introduced his wife into avant-garde intellectual and artistic circles and encouraged her

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

alliances. And it was he who chose the titillating subject matter of the Claudine novels: "the secondary myth of

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

... the girls' school or convent ruled by a seductive female teacher." Willy "locked her olettein her room until she produced enough pages to suit him." Colette and Willy separated in 1906, although their divorce was not final until 1910. Colette had no access to the sizable earnings of the Claudine books – the copyright belonged to Willy – and until 1912 she initiated a stage career in music halls across France, sometimes playing Claudine in sketches from her own novels, earning barely enough to survive and often hungry and ill. To make ends meet, she turned more seriously to journalism in the 1910s. Around this time she also became an avid amateur photographer. This period of her life is recalled in '' La Vagabonde'' (1910), which deals with women's independence in a male society, a theme to which she would regularly return in future works. During these years she embarked on a series of relationships with other women, notably with Natalie Clifford Barney and with the gender ambiguous Mathilde de Morny, the Marquise de Belbeuf ("Max"), with whom she sometimes shared the stage. On 3 January 1907, an onstage kiss between Max and Colette in a pantomime entitled "Rêve d'Égypte" caused a near-riot, and as a result, they were no longer able to live together openly, although their relationship continued for another five years. In 1912, Colette married Henry de Jouvenel, the editor of '' Le Matin''. A daughter,

Colette de Jouvenel Colette de Jouvenel, also known as Bel-Gazou, (July 19131981) was the French producer of an animated film. She was the daughter of French writer Colette and her second husband, Henri de Jouvenel. She was the half-sister of :fr:Renaud de Jouvene ...

, nicknamed ''Bel-Gazou'', was born to them in 1913.

Writing career, 1920s and 1930s

In 1920 Colette published ''

Chéri Cheri or Chéri may refer to: People Given name * Cheri Blauwet (born 1980), American wheelchair racer * Cheri Dennis (born 1979), American singer * Cheri DiNovo (born 1950), Canadian United Church minister and social democratic politician * ...

'', portraying love between an older woman and a much younger man. Chéri is the lover of Léa, a wealthy courtesan; Léa is devastated when Chéri marries a girl his own age and delighted when he returns to her, but after one final night together she sends him away again. Colette's marriage to Jouvenel ended in divorce in 1924, due partly to his infidelities and partly to her affair with her 16-year-old stepson, Bertrand de Jouvenel. In 1925 she met Maurice Goudeket, who became her final husband; the couple stayed together until her death. Colette was by then an established writer (''The Vagabond'' had received three votes for the prestigious '' Prix Goncourt''). The decades of the 1920s and 1930s were her most productive and innovative period. Set mostly in Burgundy or Paris during the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque or La Belle Époque (; French for "Beautiful Epoch") is a period of French and European history, usually considered to begin around 1871–1880 and to end with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era ...

, her work focused on married life and sexuality. It was frequently quasi-autobiographical: ''Chéri'' (1920) and ''Le Blé en Herbe'' (1923) both deal with love between an aging woman and a very young man, a situation reflecting her relationship with Bertrand de Jouvenel and with her third husband Goudeket, who was 16 years her junior. ''La Naissance du Jour'' (1928) is her explicit criticism of the conventional lives of women, expressed in meditation on age and the renunciation of love by the character of her mother, Sido. By this time Colette was frequently acclaimed as France's greatest woman writer. "It... has no plot, and yet tells of three lives all that should be known", wrote Janet Flanner of ''Sido'' (1929). "Once again, and at greater length than usual, she has been hailed for her genius, humanities and perfect prose by those literary journals which years ago... lifted nothing at all in her direction except the finger of scorn." During the 1920s she was associated with the Jewish-Algerian writer Elissa Rhaïs, who adopted a Muslim persona in order to market her novels.

Last years, 1940–1954

Colette was 67 years old when the Germans defeated and occupied France, and she remained in Paris, in her apartment in the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former royal palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Cardinal, it was built for Cardinal ...

. Her husband Maurice Goudeket, who was Jewish, was arrested by the Gestapo in December 1941, and although he was released after seven weeks through the intervention of the French wife of the German ambassador, Colette lived through the rest of the war years with the anxiety of a possible second arrest. During the Occupation she produced two volumes of memoirs, ''Journal à Rebours'' (1941) and ''De ma Fenêtre'' (1942; the two were issued in English in 1975 as ''Looking Backwards''). She Colette the journalist) and her novel ''Julie de Carneilhan'' (1941) contains many anti-Semitic slurs. In 1944, Colette published what became perhaps her most famous work, '' Gigi'', which tells the story of the 16-year-old Gilberte ("Gigi") Alvar. Born into a family of demimondaines, Gigi is trained as a courtesan to captivate a wealthy lover but defies the tradition by marrying him instead. In 1949 it was made into a French film starring

Danièle Delorme Gabrielle Danièle Marguerite Andrée Girard (9 October 1926 – 17 October 2015), known by her stage name Danièle Delorme, was a French actress and film producer, famous for her roles in films directed by Marc Allégret, Julien Duvivier or Y ...

and Gaby Morlay, then in 1951 adapted for the stage with the then-unknown

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...

in the title role, picked by Colette personally; the 1958 Hollywood musical movie, starring Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan, with a screenplay by

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

and a score by Lerner and

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe (, originally German Friedrich (Fritz) Löwe ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988) was an Austrian-United States, American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including ''Br ...

, won the Academy Award for Best Picture. In the postwar years, Colette became a famous public figure, crippled by arthritis and cared for by Goudeket, who supervised the preparation of her ''Œuvres Complètes'' (1948–1950). She continued to write during those yearsand published out ''L'Etoile Vesper'' (1944) and ''Le Fanal Bleu'' (1949) in which she reflected on the problems of a writer whose inspiration is primarily autobiographical. She was nominated by

Claude Farrère Claude Farrère, pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone (27 April 1876, in Lyon – 21 June 1957, in Paris), was a French Navy officer and writer. Many of his novels are based in exotic locations such as Istanbul, Saigon, or Nagasaki. One ...

for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

in 1948.

Colette the journalist

Colette's first pieces of journalism (1895-1900) were written in collaboration with her husband, Gauthier-Villars -- music reviews for ''La Cocarde'', a daily founded by

Maurice Barres Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

and a series of pieces for

La Fronde The Fronde () was a series of civil wars in France between 1648 and 1653, occurring in the midst of the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), Franco-Spanish War, which had begun in 1635. King Louis XIV confronted the combined opposition of the pr ...

. Following her divorce from Gauthier-Villars in 1910, she wrote independently for a wide variety of publications, gaining considerable renown for her articles covering social trends, theater, fashion, and film, as well as crime reporting." In December 1910, Colette agreed to write a regular column in the Paris daily, Le Matin -- at first under a pseudonym, then as "Colette Willy." One of her editors was Henry de Jouvenel, whom she married in 1912. By 1912, Colette had taught herself to be a reporter: "You have to see and not invent, you have to touch, not imagine .. because, when you see the sheets t a crime scenedrenched in fresh blood, they are a color you could never invent." In 1914, Colette was named Le Matin's literary editor. Colette's separation from Jouvenel in 1923 forced her to sever ties with Le Matin. Over the next three decades her articles appeared in over two dozen publications, including Vogue, Le Figaro, and Paris-Soir. During the German Occupation of France, Colette continued contributing to daily and weekly publications, a number of them collaborationist and pro-Nazi, including Le Petit Parisien, which became a pro-Vichy after January 1941, and La Gerbe, a pro-Nazi weekly. Though her articles were not political in nature, Colette was sharply criticized at the time for lending her prestige to these publications and implicitly accommodating herself to the Vichy regime. Her November 26, 1942 article, "Ma Bourgogne Pauvre" ("My Poor Burgundy") has been singled out by some historians as tactically accepting some of ultra-nationalist goals that hardline Vichyist writers espoused. After 1945, her journalism was sporadic, and her final pieces were more personal essays than reported stories. Over the course of her writing career, Colette published over 1200 articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Death and legacy

Upon her death, on 3 August 1954, she was refused a religious funeral by the Catholic Church on account of her divorces, but given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of Etiquette, protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive ...

, the first French

woman of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator ...

to be granted the honour, and interred in Père-Lachaise cemetery. perelachaise-Colette-p1000342

Colette was elected to the

Belgian Royal Academy Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

(1935), the Académie Goncourt (1945, and President in 1949), and a Chevalier (1920) and Grand Officer (1953) of the Légion d'honneur. Colette's numerous biographers have proposed widely differing interpretations of her life and work over the decades. Initially considered a limited if talented novelist (despite the outspoken admiration in her lifetime of figures such as André Gide and Henry de Montherlant), she has been increasingly recognised as an important voice in women's writing. Before Colette's death, Katherine Anne Porter wrote in the ''New York Times'' that Colette "is the greatest living French writer of fiction; and that she was while Gide and Proust still lived." Singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash paid tribute to the writer in the song, "The Summer I Read Colette", on her 1996 album ''

10 Song Demo ''10 Song Demo'' is an album by the American musician Rosanne Cash. Released in 1996, it was her first album for Capitol Records. The album's first single, "The Summer I Read Collette", is a tribute to French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. It ...

''. Truman Capote wrote an essay in 1970 about meeting her, called "The White Rose". It tells how, when she saw him admiring a paperweight on a table (the "white rose" of the title), she insisted he take it; Capote initially refused the gift, but “…when I protested that I couldn’t accept as a present something she so clearly adored,

he replied He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

'My dear, really there is no point in giving a gift unless one also treasures it oneself.'” "Lucette Stranded on the Island" by Julia Holter, from her 2015 album '' Have You in My Wilderness'', is based on a minor character from Colette's short story ''Chance Acquaintances''. In the 1991 film ''Becoming Colette'', Colette is played by the French actress

Mathilda May Mathilda May (born Karin Haïm; 8 February 1965) is a French film actress. Early life May was born in Paris, France. Her father, playwright Victor Haïm, is of Sephardic Jewish ( Greek-Jewish and Turkish-Jewish) descent. Her mother is the Swe ...

. In the 2018 film '' Colette'', the title character is played by Keira Knightley. Both films focus on Colette's life in her twenties, her marriage to her first husband, and the publication of her first novels under his name.

Notable works

*''Claudine à l'école'' (1900, translated as '' Claudine at School'') *''Claudine à Paris'' (1901, translated as ''Claudine in Paris'') *''Claudine en ménage'' (1902, translated as ''Claudine Married'') *''Claudine s'en va'' (1903, translated as ''Claudine and Annie'') *''Dialogues de bêtes'' (1904) *''La Retraite sentimentale'' (1907) *'' Les Vrilles de la vigne'' (1908) *'' La Vagabonde'' (1910) *''L'Envers du music hall'' (1913) *''L'Entrave'' (1913, translated as ''The Shackle'') *''La Paix chez les bêtes'' (1916) *'' L'Enfant et les sortilèges'' (1917, Ravel opera

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

) *'' Mitsou'' (1919) *''

'' (1920) *''La Maison de Claudine'' (1922, translated as ''The House of Claudine'') *''L'Autre Femme'' (1922, translated as ''The Other Woman'') *'' Le Blé en herbe'' (1923, translated as ''Ripening Seed'') *''

La Fin de Chéri LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (1926, translated as ''The Last of Chéri'' or ''The End of Chéri'') *''

La Naissance du jour ''Break of Day'' (french: La Naissance du jour) is a 1928 novel by the French writer Colette. It was adapted into a 1980 film directed by Jacques Demy. Reception Elaine Marks reviewed the book for ''The New York Times'' in 1961: "It may well be th ...

'' (1928, translated as ''Break of Day'') *''Sido'' (1929) *''La Seconde'' (1929, translated as ''The Other One'') *''Le Pur et l'Impur'' (1932, translated as ''The Pure and the Impure'') *''

La Chatte ''La Chatte'' is a short novel by French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Released in 1933, the book tells of a love triangle involving Camille Malmert, her husband Alain Amparat and his Chartreux The Chartreux is a rare breed of cat fro ...

'' (1933) *''

Duo Duo may refer to: Places *Duo, West Virginia, an unincorporated community and coal town in Greenbrier County, West Virginia *Duo, Tampere, a shopping centre in Hervanta, Tampere, Finland * DUO, a twin-tower development in Singapore Arts, enterta ...

'' (1934) *'' Julie de Carneilhan'' (1941) *''Le Képi'' (1943) *'' Gigi'' (1944) *''Paris de ma fenêtre'' (1944) *''L'Étoile Vesper'' (1947) *''Le Fanal Bleu'' (1949, translated as ''The Blue Lantern'') *''Paradis terrestre'', with photographs by Izis Bidermanas (1953) Source:

Filmography

* ', directed by Solange Térac (France, 1932, based on the novel '' The Vagabond'') * ', directed by Serge de Poligny (France, 1937, based on the novel '' Claudine at School'') * '' Gigi'', directed by

Jacqueline Audry Jacqueline Audry (25 September 1908 – 22 June 1977) was a French film director who began making films in post-World War II France and specialised in literary adaptations. She was the first commercially successful female director of post-war ...

(France, 1949, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * '' Julie de Carneilhan'', directed by

Jacques Manuel Jacques Manuel (1897–1968) was a French costume designer and occasional film editor and film director, director.Goble p.784 Selected filmography Costume designer * ''La Route impériale'' (1935) * ''Woman of Malacca'' (1937) * ''The Citadel of S ...

(France, 1950, based on the novel '' Julie de Carneilhan'') * ', directed by

(France, 1950, based on the novel ') * ', directed by Pierre Billon (France, 1950, based on the novel ''

'') * '' Le Blé en herbe'', directed by Claude Autant-Lara (France, 1954, based on the novel ''

Green Wheat ''Green Wheat'' (french: Le Blé en herbe) is a 1923 novel by the French writer Colette. The book was written during the vacation of the writer on her property Roz-Ven in Saint-Coulomb, between Saint-Malo and Cancale. Plot Phil and Vinca mee ...

'') * '' Mitsou'', directed by

(France, 1956, based on the novella '' Mitsou'') * '' NBC Matinee Theater: The Vagabond'' (1958, TV series episode, based on the novel '' The Vagabond'') * '' Gigi'', directed by Vincente Minnelli (1958, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''Chéri'', directed by François Chatel (France, 1962, TV film, based on the novel ''

'') * ''The Gentle Libertine or How Young Girls Grow Wise'', directed by Robert Kitts (UK, 1967, TV film, based on the novel ') * ''Away from It All: The Ripening Seed'', directed by Mischa Scorer (UK, 1973, TV series episode, based on the novel ''

'') * ''Chéri'', directed by Claude Whatham (UK, 1973, TV miniseries, based on the novel ''

'') * ''La Seconde'', directed by Hervé Bromberger (France, 1973, TV film, based on the novel ''La Seconde'') * ', directed by Édouard Molinaro (France, 1978, TV miniseries, based on the '' Claudine'' novels) * ', directed by

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, lyricist, and screenwriter. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrat ...

(France, 1980, TV film, based on the novel ''

Break of Day ''Break of Day'' (french: La Naissance du jour) is a 1928 novel by the French writer Colette. It was adapted into a 1980 film directed by Jacques Demy. Reception Elaine Marks reviewed the book for ''The New York Times'' in 1961: "It may well be th ...

'') * ''Emmenez-moi au théâtre: Chéri'', directed by

Yves-André Hubert Yves-André Hubert is a French actor, television film director and theatre ''metteur en scène''. He received a Sept d'or award in 1988 for '' L'Affaire Marie Besnard''. Filmography * 1961 : ''Youm et les longues moustaches'' * 1962 : '' Les ...

(France, 1984, TV series episode, based on the novel ''

'') * ''Gigi'', directed by Jeannette Hubert (France, 1987, TV film, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''Julie de Carneilhan'', directed by Christopher Frank (France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''Julie de Carneilhan'') * ''Le Blé en herbe'', directed by Serge Meynard (France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''

'') * ''La Seconde'', directed by Christopher Frank (France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''La Seconde'') * ''Duo'', directed by Claude Santelli (France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''

'') * ''Bella Vista'', directed by

Alfredo Arias Alfredo Carlos Arias Sánchez (born 28 November 1958 in Shangrilá) is a Uruguayan football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Colombian club Independiente Medellín Deportivo Independiente Medell� ...

(France, 1992, TV film, based on the short story ''Bella-Vista'') * ', directed by Caroline Huppert (France, 2006, TV film, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''

'', directed by Stephen Frears (UK, 2009, based on the novel ''

'')

Screenwriter

* 1934: '' Lake of Ladies'' (dir.

Marc Allégret Marc Allégret (22 December 1900 – 3 November 1973) was a French screenwriter, photographer and film director. Biography Born in Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, he was the elder brother of Yves Allégret. Marc was educated to be a lawyer in ...

) * 1935: '' Divine'' (dir. Max Ophüls)

Films about Colette

*', directed by Yannick Bellon (France, 1952, short documentary) *', directed by Danny Huston (1991), with

as Colette *'' Colette, une femme libre'', directed by Nadine Trintignant (France, 2004, TV film), with Marie Trintignant as Colette *'' Colette'', directed by Wash Westmoreland (2018), with Keira Knightley as Colette *'' Colette, l'insoumise'', directed by

Cécile Denjean Cécile or Cecile is a female given name or surname. People Given name * Ce'cile (Cecile Charlton, born 1976), Jamaican musician * Severin Cecile Abega (1955–2008), Cameroonian author * Cécile Aubry (1928–2010), retired French film actress a ...

(France, 2018, documentary)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *Hennigfeld, Ursula/ Hörner, Fernand/ Link-Heer, Ursula (2006). ''Literarische Gendertheorie. Eros und Gesellschaft bei Proust und Colette''. Bielefeld, Transcript. * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Centre d'études Colette
* * *
Portrait of Colette
by

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clients including Is ...

commentary on portrait

Colette and her Cats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle 1873 births 1954 deaths People from Yonne 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 19th-century French women writers 19th-century women writers 20th-century French women writers 19th-century LGBT people 20th-century LGBT people Bisexual women Bisexual writers French opera librettists French vedettes French women novelists LGBT journalists from France LGBT memoirists French LGBT novelists Modernist women writers Women opera librettists Writers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery