Jeanne Galzy (1883–1977), born Louise Jeanne Baraduc, was a French novelist and biographer from Montpellier. She was a long-time member of the jury for 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 writte ...

. Largely forgotten today, she was known as a regional author, but also wrote three novels early in her career that explore lesbian topics; she has been referred to as one of the "pioneers in the writing of lesbian desire and despair."

Biography

Galzy was born in 1883 in Montpellier, France, the daughter of a wholesaler and an unpublished poet. She grew up in a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

environment and went to better schools, exceedingly rare for a young girl of the time. She studied at the ''

École normale supérieure de jeunes filles The ''École normale supérieure de jeunes filles'' (also, ''École normale supérieure de Sèvres'') was a French institute of higher education, in Sèvres, now a commune in the suburbs of Paris. The school educated girls only, especially as tea ...

'' in

Sèvres Sèvres (, ) is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine department, Île-de-France region. The commune, which had a population of 23,251 as of 2018, is known for ...

and passed the '' agrégation'' competitive exam. In 1915 she gained a position teaching at the boys' lycée in Montpellier; she was the first woman to teach at the school and replaced a man who had died in the trenches of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While teaching, she contracted

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, and went to convalesce in

Berck Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer (, literally ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. It lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve. Geography Situa ...

. This experience led her to write '' Les Allongés'', which received the

in 1923. She went back to teaching, but after suffering a relapse devoted her life to writing. Having published five novels, a play, and having received a number of literary awards, in 1929 she delivered a novel of lesbian love between a teacher and a student, ''L'Initiatrice aux mains vides'', translated in English as ''

Burnt Offering A holocaust is a religious animal sacrifice that is completely consumed by fire. The word derives from the Ancient Greek ''holokaustos'' which is used solely for one of the major forms of sacrifice, also known as a burnt offering. Etymology and ...

'' and the winner of the 1930 Prix Brentano (which earned her $1000 and a translation of her book in English). ''Jeunes Filles en serre chaude'' (1934) aimed to be the portrait of the students of the École normale supérieure in Sèvres; the school was reputed to be a "breeding ground of homosexual relationship," and had earlier been the subject of a novel exploring same-sex desire, ''Les Sevriennes'' (1900) by Gabrielle Reval. Galzy was a member of the jury for the

for more than five decades.

Themes and critiques, appreciation

Galzy's novels are frequently regarded as '' romans à clef''—transcribing her personal experiences. Thus, in ''La Femme chez les garçons'' and ''L'Initiatrice aux mains vides'' she is considered to recount her own life as a teacher in Paris, and likewise ''Les Allongés'' is supposed to treat solely her two-year disease. Galzy herself resisted such a reading (called the " autobiographical fallacy" by literary critics), claiming that writing fiction allowed her a detachment from reality. In ''Les Allongés'', for instance, readers should find, besides a possible biographical connection, "a more general metaphysical investigation and validation of human suffering." Critics note, however, that explicit denials that a given novel is a roman à clef is often a rhetorical move; such a denial is given on the first page of ''Jeunes Filles en serre chaude'', a novel of "intergenerational love" (between teacher and student) in a "pedagogic context" similar to Galzy's experiences at the École normale supérieure which questions "the suitability of contemporary educational opportunities for young women". Three novels written relatively early in Galzy's career explore lesbian desire, ''L'Initiatrice aux mains vides'', ''Les Démons de la solitude'', and ''Jeunes Filles en serre chaude'', written between 1929 and 1934. According to one critic, Galzy did not initially approach lesbianism as an issue of gender but as a problem of the social imperative against expressing same-sex attraction:

The ambiguity that interests Jeanne Galzy concerns not gender but rather her characters' process of realizing that their feelings are indeed those of love for other women. Her protagonists have no place to situate themselves socially. Heterosexuality and motherhood are the only modes of love publicly available in their world. As a result it is not surprising Galzy sidles up to the issue of lesbian desire gradually.

''L'Initiatrice'' features a single schoolteacher who develops a relationship with a younger student. In ''Les Démons'', a father and his daughter (who already has an intimate female friend) fall in love with the same girl. ''Jeunes Filles'' is the most explicit of the three, and again a relationship develops between a student and her teacher, in a possible love that is ultimately frustrated. Later in her career she would again return to lesbian themes in the series of novels published as ''La Surprise de vivre'' (1969–1976). In her time, Galzy enjoyed a measure of popularity and literary recognition. She was a member of the salon of

Natalie Clifford Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors through her salon and a ...

and was read by (and presumably influenced) writers such as

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

;

Hélène de Monferrand Hélène de Montferrand (born 1947 Saint-Mandé) is a French novelist. She grew up in Algeria and studied at Nanterre and at the Sorbonne. Her work continues and "resonates with echoes" the work of Jeanne Galzy. She received the Goncourt prize f ...

was strongly influenced by her. Galzy, like other women writers of her generation (the period between the two World Wars), has suffered from critical neglect that she "deserves to be better known today" is a common statement in many publications on her. Her work, as well as that of authors like

Marguerite Audoux Marguerite Audoux (July 7, 1863 at Sancoins, Cher – January 31, 1937 at Saint-Raphaël, Var) was a French novelist. Biography Marguerite Donquichote, who took her mother's name, Audoux, in 1895, was orphaned by age three, following the d ...

and Catherine Pozzi, is relatively unknown today and many of her books are no longer in print.

Works

*'' Les Allongés'', Ferenczi, 1923; Gallimard, 1975 *''La Femme chez les garçons'', F. Rieder, 1924 *''La Grand rue'' (''Main Street''), Rieder, 1925 *''Le Retour dans la vie'', F. Rieder, 1926 *''Sainte Thérèse d'Avila'' (''Saint

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

''), 1927 *''Le Retour dans la vie'', 1929 *'' L'Initiatrice aux mains vides'' (''The Initiator with the Empty Hands''), Rieder, 1929 – published in English as ''

'', 1930 *''Les Démons de la solitude'' (''Demons of Solitude''), 1931 *'' Jeunes filles en serre chaude'' ("Young girls in the hothouse"), Gallimard, 1934 *''Le Village rêve'',

Nouvelle Revue Française ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' (; "The New French Review") is a literary magazine based in France. In France, it is often referred to as the ''NRF''. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1909 by a group of intellectuals including An ...

(NRF), 1935 *''Catherine de Médicis'', NRF "Leurs figures", 1936 *''Les Démons de la solitude'' (''Demons of Solitude''), Rieder, 1936 *''Margot, reine sans royaume'' (''Margo, Queen without a Realm''), NRF "Leurs Figures", 1939 *''Les Oiseaux des îles'' (''The Birds of the Islands''), NRF, 1941 *''Pays perdu'' (''Lost Country''), NRF, 1943 *''Diane de Joannis de Chateaublanc'', 1943 *''La Cage de fer'' (''The Iron Cage''), NRF, 1946 *''George Sand'', Julliard, 1950 *''La Femme étrangère'' (''The Foreign Woman''), 1950 *''La Jeunesse déchirée'' (''Torn Youth''), 1952 *'' Celle qui vint d'ailleurs'', 1958 *''La Fille'' (''The Girl''), 1961 *''La Surprise de vivre'', 1969 **''La Surprise de vivre'', Gallimard NRF, 1969; Double Interligne, 1997 **''Les Sources vives : la surprise de vivre II'', NRF, 1971 **''La Cavalière: la surpride de vivre III'', NRF, 1974; Double Interligne, 2000 **''Le Rossignol aveugle: la surprise de vivre IV'', NRF, 1976

References

External links

La Bouquinerie
Photo and summaries. (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Galzy, Jeanne 1883 births 1977 deaths Writers from Montpellier French women novelists French educators French lesbian writers French LGBT novelists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French women writers Prix Femina winners

Biography

Themes and critiques, appreciation

Works

References

Further reading

External links