Marie Lera (, Héliard;

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 ...

s, Jean D'Anin and Marc Hélys; 2 June 1864 – 9 October 1958) was a French journalist, novelist, and translator. She is best known for her book, ''Le secret des "Désenchantées"''. Lera died in 1958.

Biography

Hortense Marie Héliard was born on 2 June 1864, in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

.Archives de la Loire Atlantique, commune de Saint-Nazaire, acte de naissance no 147, année 1864 (avec mention marginale de décès) (page 17/48) From childhood, she was taught English and Italian and, thanks to her nanny, Swedish too.Odoevsky Maslov, Loup. "Marc Hélys femme de lettres nazairienne", ''Histoire et Patrimoine n°97'', March 2020, p. 63 She started her career in journalism by writing a report on

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

, adopting the

s "Jean D'Anin" and "Marc Hélys" when publishing her works. During her two stays in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, Lera created relationships and spent time with two women, which opened doors for her and helped her understand the ideological debates in regard to Ottoman women. Lera wrote a book, ''Le jardin fermé'', which she presented as a testimony on the condition of women and the events that marked her time in Constantinople, but which in reality was a summary of hearsay punctuated with romantic inventions.Odoevsky Maslov, Loup, 2020, p. 70 Lera was best known for her book, ''Le secret des "Désenchantées"'', published under the pseudonym of "Marc Hélys", which described how the literary success of

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 ...

's ''Les désenchantées'' resulted from a deception of which she was the one of the authors during her second stay in Constantinople in 1904. Lera became interested in feminism while in several foreign countries. In 1906, she published ''À travers le féminisme en Suède'' (Paris, Plon-Nourrit). She was also a translator (from Italian, English, Swedish, and Polish), using the pseudonym "Jean d'Anin". Her husband was the Mexican diplomat Carlos Americo Lera. Marie Lera died on 9 October 1958, in

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

Selected works

As "Marie Lera"

* ''Les Petits Boërs : épisode de la guerre du Transvaal en 1900'', 1900

As "Jean d'Anin"

* ''Laquelle ?'' - Collection Stella, no. 107, 1903

As "Marc Hélys"

*''À travers le féminisme suédois'', 1906 *''Le Jardin fermé, scènes de la vie féminine en Turquie'', 1908 *''Cantinière de la Croix-Rouge 1914-1916'', 1917 *''L'Envers d'un roman : Le secret des "Désenchantées" révélé par celle qui fut Djénan'', 1923

Translations as "Marc Hélys"

* ''Aimé pour lui-même'' - Collection Stella, no. 22 (French translation of the novel '' Brewster's Millions'', by

George Barr McCutcheon George Barr McCutcheon (July 26, 1866 – October 23, 1928) was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include a series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel '' Brewster's Milli ...

) 1902 *''Le Vieux Manoir'' (French translation of a Swedish short story by

Selma Lagerlöf Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerlöf (, , ; 20 November 1858 – 16 March 1940) was a Swedish author. She published her first novel, ''Gösta Berling's Saga'', at the age of 33. She was the first woman to win the 1909 Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Pr ...

) *''Dans le désert'' (French translation of the Italian novel ''Sino al confine,'' by

Grazia Deledda Grazia Maria Cosima Damiana Deledda (; 27 September 1871 – 15 August 1936), also known in Sardinian language as Gràssia or Gràtzia Deledda (), was an Italian writer who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1926 "for her idealistically ...

), Paris, Hachette, 1912 *''Une héroïne de la Renaissance italienne, Caterina Sforza, 1463-1509'' (partial French translation of ''Caterina Sforza'', 3 volume edition by the Italian historian, Pier Desiderio Pasolini) *''Des roseaux sous le vent''(French translation of the Italian novel ''Canne al vento,'' by Grazia Deledda), Paris, Grasset, 1919 *''Betty et ses amoureux'' (French translation of the novel ''The Two Vanrevels'' by

Booth Tarkington Newton Booth Tarkington (July 29, 1869 – May 19, 1946) was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his novels ''The Magnificent Ambersons'' (1918) and '' Alice Adams'' (1921). He is one of only four novelists to win the Pulitze ...

), Paris, Hachette, 1936

References

External links

* Loup Odoevsky Maslov
''Marc Hélys femme de lettres nazairienne''
Histoire & Patrimoine n°97, March 2020, pp. 62, 73 * Loup Odoevsky Maslov
91 ''Les Lera, une famille de diplomates nazairiens venus du Mexique''
Histoire & Patrimoine n°98, July 2020, pp. 74, 95. * Loup Odoevsky Maslov,

', i
Chroniques de Saint-Nazaire
* Loup Odoevsky Maslov, De Marie Lera à la mystérieuse Leyla, Bulletin de l'Association Internationale des amis de Pierre Loti, N°42, December 2022, pp 8, 24. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lera, Marie 1864 births 1958 deaths 19th-century French journalists 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French translators 20th-century pseudonymous writers 19th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers French women journalists French women novelists People from Saint-Nazaire Translators from Italian Translators from English Translators from Swedish Translators from Polish 19th-century women journalists