Mathilde Alanic (

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 ...

, Miranda; 10 November 1864 – 20 October 1948) was a French writer of

sentimental novel The sentimental novel or the novel of sensibility is an 18th-century literary genre which celebrates the emotional and intellectual concepts of sentiment, sentimentalism, and sensibility. Sentimentalism, which is to be distinguished from sensi ...

s and short stories. Her work appeared in ''Les Annales politiques et littéraires'', ''L'Eventail'', ''Le Magasin pittoresque'', ''

Musée des familles ''Musée des familles'' (''"Museum of Families"'') was an illustrated French literary magazine that was published in Paris from 1833 to 1900. It was founded by Émile de Girardin. Contributors of the magazine included Alexandre Dumas, Théophil ...

'', ''Le National illustré'', ''

La Petite Illustration ''La Petite Illustration'' was a weekly French literary journal. Being a supplement to ''L'Illustration'' it existed between 1913 and 26 August 1939. History and profile ''La Petite Illustration'' was founded in 1913. It was a newspaper supplemen ...

'', '' Le Petit Journal'', ''

Le Petit Parisien ''Le Petit Parisien'' was a prominent French newspaper during the French Third Republic. It was published between 1876 and 1944, and its circulation was over two million after the First World War. Publishing Despite its name, the paper was circu ...

'', ''Revue de l'Anjou'', and other journals. Alanic was a recipient of the Montyon prize, Jules-Favre prize, Sobrier-Arnould prize, and was promoted Chevalier,

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

. She died in 1948.

Early life and education

Mathilde Alanic was born 10 November 1864, in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

(

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...

). Her father, Julien Louis Alanic, was an entrepreneur and a

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally ** Breton people ** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Ga ...

house painter from the

faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, th ...

Bressigny, in Angers. Her mother was Mathilde Louise (Verdun) Alanic. Alanic attended a Catholic boarding school before becoming a pupil of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

at the Ecole Supérieure des Lettres in Angers. She wrote a romantic Spanish "novel" for her family's entertainment at the age of nine, versified correspondence to her friends at the age of 11, then short stories under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of "Miranda", in the ''Revue de l'Anjou'', ''L'Eventail'', and Parisian reviews, which got her noticed.Port, 1965, p. 8

Career

The Christmas tale, "La soutane de l'abbé Constantin", came out in 1897, and was followed by "Norbert Dys". Her first novel, ''Le Maître du Moulin Blanc'', appeared in ''

'' in 1898. She then wrote about thirty mainly sentimental novels, but also wrote many short stories like "Marianik" in 1899. Mathilde Alanic en 1929

She published ''Maître du Moulin Blanc'' in 1901. In the same year, she began her Nicole series, ''Ma cousine Nicole'', which ran through 1939. It followed the life of a young girl, through her marriage (1920), motherhood (1921) and being a grandmother (1929). she became a member of the

Société des gens de lettres Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

de France (SGDLF) in 1904. Between 1906 and 1923, she collaborated on three novels with Henri Gautier. In addition to Bergson, she received encouragement and inspiration from André Bellessort, René Boylesve, Adolphe Brisson, Alberic Cahuet,

François Coppée François Edouard Joachim Coppée (26 January 1842 – 23 May 1908) was a French poet and novelist. Biography Coppée was born in Paris to a civil servant. After attending the Lycée Saint-Louis he became a clerk in the ministry of war and won ...

Camille Flammarion Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (; 26 February 1842 – 3 June 1925) was a French astronomer and author. He was a prolific author of more than fifty titles, including popular science works about astronomy, several notable early science fiction ...

, Ernest Flammarion,

Georges Lecomte Georges Lecomte (9 July 1867 – 27 August 1958) was a French novelist and playwright, who also wrote literary, historical and artistic studies. Lecomte was born in Mâcon, Saône-et-Loire. In 1924 he was elected to the Académie française, of ...

, and

Albert Sorel Albert Sorel (13 August 184229 June 1906) was a French historian. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature nine times. Life He was born at Honfleur and remained throughout his life a lover of his native Normandy. His father, a rich man ...

. Her works were appreciated outside France, especially in Belgium and Switzerland. Her works were presented as "classic reading" in schools in England and Germany.

Awards and honours

In 1903, she received the Montyon prize from 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 ...

for her work ''Ma Cousine Nicole'' as well as in 1929 for ''Le mariage de Hoche''. In 1913, she received the Jules-Favre prize from the French Academy for her work ''Petite miette''. In 1920, she received the Sobrier-Arnould prize also awarded by the Académie Française for ''Les roses refleurissent''.Dictionnaire des rues d'Angers On 3 February 1929, she was promoted Chevalier, Legion of Honour on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Instruction and Fine Arts, for her 35-year literary career.

Death and legacy

Mathilde Alanic died 20 October 1948 (aged 84) in the city of her birth. Streets in Angers and in

Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou Saint-Sylvain-d'Anjou () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Verrières-en-Anjou.

Selected works

*''Norbert Dys'', 1899 *''Le Maître du Moulin-Blanc,'' 1902 *''Ma cousine Nicole'', 1902 *''Mie Jacqueline'', 1903 *''Les Espérances'', 1906 *''Le devoir d'un fils'', 1906 *''La Gloire de Fonteclaire'', 1907 *''La romance de Joconde'', 1908 *''Aime et tu renaîtras'', 1908 *''La fille de la sirène'', 1909 *''Les Espérances'', Collection Stella, no. 4 *''L'oiseau couleur du temps'' *''Francine chez les gens de rien'' *''Monette'', Collection Stella, no. 56 *''La Petite Miette'', 1911 *''La Petite Guignolette'' *''Et L'amour dispose'', 1911 *''Le soleil couchant'', 1913 *''Les roses refleurissent'', Plon 1919 *''Nicole mariée'', 1920 *''Nicole Maman'', 1921 *''Aimes et tu renaitras'', 1921 *''Le Sachet de lavande'', 1924 *''L'aube du cœur'', 1925 *''Le Mariage de Hoche'', 1928 *''Les Loups Sur La Lande'', 1928 *''Anne et le Bonheur'', 1930 *''Étoiles dans la nuit'', 1932 *''Les Danaïdes'', 1934 *''Les remous du passés'',1935 *''Féli'', 1936 *''Nicole et les temps nouveaux'', 1939 *''Le fuseau d'or'', 1941 *''La Cinquième Jeunesse de Mme Ermance'', 1944

References

External links

*
Marianik
at Wikisource (in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Alanic, Mathilde 1864 births 1948 deaths 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French short story writers 20th-century French women writers French women novelists French women short story writers People from Angers Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur