Marc-André Raffalovich (11 September 1864 – 14 February 1934) was a French poet and writer on homosexuality, best known today for his patronage of the arts and for his lifelong relationship with the English poet John Gray.

Early life

John Gray and Marc-Andre Raffalovich with a friend

Raffalovich was born into a wealthy

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family, which moved from

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

to the French capital, Paris, in 1863. His brother,

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

, became a noted Parisian financier and economist. André went up to study in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

in 1882 before settling down in London and opening a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

in the 1890s.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

attended, calling the event a saloon rather than a salon.Raffalovich, Marc-André (1864–1934)
. glbtq This is where Raffalovich met the love and companion of his life, John Gray. In 1890, his sister Sophie married the

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cu ...

politician

William O'Brien William O'Brien (2 October 1852 – 25 February 1928) was an Irish nationalist, journalist, agrarian agitator, social revolutionary, politician, party leader, newspaper publisher, author and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons of ...

(1852–1928).

Writings

In 1894, Raffalovich started to contribute on the subject of homosexuality (''unisexualité'', as he called it) to the ''Archives de l'Anthropologie Criminelle'', a prestigious review founded 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 ...

Alexandre Lacassagne Alexandre Lacassagne (August 17, 1843 – September 24, 1924) was a French physician and criminologist who was a native of Cahors. He was the founder of the Lacassagne school of criminology, based in Lyon and influential from 1885 to 1914, and the ...

, a pioneer

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

and professor of

forensic medicine Forensic medicine is a broad term used to describe a group of medical specialties which deal with the examination and diagnosis of individuals who have been injured by or who have died because of external or unnatural causes such as poisoning, assa ...

. He soon became recognised as an expert in the field, engaging in correspondence with other researchers throughout Europe. His

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

, ''Uranisme et unisexualité: étude sur différentes manifestations de l'instinct sexuel'' was published in 1896. In 1897, he started working on ''Annales de l'unisexualité'', and ''les Chroniques de l'unisexualité'' with the aim of cataloguing everything published on the subject of homosexuality. These have proved useful to historians to this day.

Conversion

In 1896, under the influence of John Gray, Raffalovich embraced

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and joined the

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

order of the Dominicans as Brother Sebastian in honour of

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

. At the same time Gray was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

. In 1905, Gray was appointed to the parish of

St Patrick Saint Patrick ( la, Patricius; ga, Pádraig ; cy, Padrig) was a fifth-century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop in Ireland. Known as the "Apostle of Ireland", he is the primary patron saint of Ireland, the other patron saints be ...

in the working class

Cowgate The Cowgate (Scots language, Scots: The Cougait) is a street in Edinburgh, Scotland, located about southeast of Edinburgh Castle, within the city's World Heritage Site. The street is part of the lower level of Edinburgh's Old Town, Edinburgh, ...

area of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Raffalovich followed and settled down nearby, purchasing No. 9, Whitehouse Terrace. He contributed greatly to the cost of St Peter's Church in Morningside, Edinburgh, of which Gray was appointed the first

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

. In Whitehouse Terrace, Raffalovich established a successful salon. His guests included

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, Lady

Margaret Sackville Lady Margaret Sackville (24 December 1881 – 18 April 1963) was an English poet and children's author. Born at 60 Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, Sackville was the youngest child of Reginald Windsor Sackville, 7th Earl De La Warr. She was a secon ...

Compton Mackenzie Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie, (17 January 1883 – 30 November 1972) was a Scottish writer of fiction, biography, histories and a memoir, as well as a cultural commentator, raconteur and lifelong Scottish independence, Scottish nation ...

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...

and

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

Theories

There is a close link between Raffalovich's views on homosexuality and his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

beliefs. In contrast to then-current theories of sexual inversion, according to which a man was a homosexual because he had a female soul in a male body and a woman was lesbian because she had a male soul in a female body, and which thus essentially reproduced heterosexuality, Raffalovich's view of "unisexuality" held that it consisted of attraction to the ''same'' sex, closer to the modern conception of homosexuality. He wrote of gay men, "As men, they love men; but they affirm that were they women they would love women." He made the distinction between the born and the chosen inverts. He believed the former worth considering while the latter he thought to be mired in vice and perversion. Raffalovich drew, however, a difference with heterosexuality based on the idea of vice and virtue. He regarded a heterosexual's destiny as marriage and starting a family, whereas a homosexual's duty, he believed, was to overcome and transcend his desires with artistic pursuits and spiritual – even mystical – friendships. These views led him to clash with

Magnus Hirschfeld Magnus Hirschfeld (14 May 1868 – 14 May 1935) was a German physician and sexologist. Hirschfeld was educated in philosophy, philology and medicine. An outspoken advocate for sexual minorities, Hirschfeld founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Com ...

and the members of the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, with Raffalovich accusing them of being propagandists for moral dissolution and of wanting to destroy whole generations. He even supported

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Paragraph 175 Paragraph 175 (known formally a§175 StGB also known as Section 175 in English) was a provision of the German Criminal Code from 15 May 1871 to 10 March 1994. It made homosexual acts between males a crime, and in early revisions the provision ...

as a way to prevent total moral chaos. Raffalovich's attempts to reconcile his homosexuality and his Catholic beliefs pushed him further into his criticism of the early

gay liberation movement The gay liberation movement was a social and political movement of the late 1960s through the mid-1980s that urged lesbians and gay men to engage in radical direct action, and to counter societal shame with gay pride.Hoffman, 2007, pp.xi-xiii. ...

; in 1910, he finally stopped commenting altogether on the subject which had occupied such a place in his life. Instead, he focused on his Edinburgh salon and his support of young artists. He died in 1934, the same year as his companion, John Gray.

Bibliography

Note: Most of Raffalovich's non-fiction writings are available online from the "Archives d'anthropologie criminelle" (AAC) as *.jpg files. * 1884 ''Cyril and Lionel, and other poems. A volume of sentimental studies'', Kegan Paul & Co., London 1884, 102 pp. * 1885 ''Tuberose and meadow-sweet''

oems An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

D. Boque, London 1885, pp. 120. *1885 ''Uranism, congenital sexual inversion.'' Journal of Comparative Neurology, 5(1) pp 33–65, https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.910050103 * 1886 ''In fancy dress''

Walter Scott, London 1886, pp. 148. * 1889 ''It is thyself''

Walter Scott, London 1889, pp. 146. * 1890 ''A willing exile. A novel'', F. V. White & Co., London 1890, 2 voll. * 189
''Quelques observations sur l'inversion''
"AAC", n. 50, IX 1894, pp. 216–218. * 189
''L'éducation des invertis''
"AAC", n. 54, IX 1894, pp. 738–740. * 1895 ''The thread and the path''

David Nutt, London 1895, pp. 106. * 189
''L'uranisme. Inversion sexuelle congenitale. Observations at conseils''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 99–127. * 189
''John Addington Symonds''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 241–244. * 189
''L'inversion sexuelle''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 325–332. * 189
''A propos du Roman d'un inverti et de quelques travaux récents sur l'inversion sexuelle''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 333–336. * 189
''L'affaire Oscar Wilde''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 445–477. * 189
''Homosexualité et hétérosexualité, trois confessions''
"AAC", X 1895, pp. 748–758. * 189
''Unisexualité anglaise''
"AAC", XI 1896, pp. 429–431. * 1896 ''Uranisme et unisexualité: étude sur differentes manifestations de l'instinct sexuel'', Storck, Lyon & Masson, Paris 1896, 363 pp. * 189
''Annales de l'unisexualité''
"AAC", XII 1897, pp. 87–102 e 185–224. (.pdf). * 190
''L'affaire du prince de Bragance''
"AAC", XVIII 1903, pp. 159–161. * 190
''A propos de l'affaire Shakespeare-Bacon''
"AAC", XVIII 1903, pp. 662–665. * 190
''Les groupes uranistes à Paris et à Berlin''
"AAC", n. 132, XIX 1904, pp. 926–936. * 190
''A propos du syndacat des uranistes''
"AAC", XX nn. 136/137, pp. 283–286. * 190
''Sur Richard Burton''
"AAC", XXI 1906, pp. 474–479. * 190
''Chroniques de l'unisexualité''
"AAC", XXII 1907, pp. 606–632 e 767–786. (.pdf). * 190
''Des mariages entre hommes''
"AAC", XXII 1907, pp. 267–268. * 190
''Chronique de l'unisexualité''
"AAC", XXIV 1909, pp. 353–391. * 191
''L'amour homosexuel''
& ''The origine icand development of the moral ideas, par E. Westermarck (chap. XLIII)'', "AAC", XXV 1910, pp. 291–295 e 295–305.

References

Sources

Marc-André Raffalovich
* Cardon, Patrick, ''A homosexual militant at the beginning of the century: Marc Andre Raffalovich'', "Journal of Homosexuality", XXV 1993 (1–2), pp. 183–191. * Cardon, Patrick, ''Discours littéraire et scientifiques fin de siècle : Les Archives d'Anthropologie Criminelle du Dr Lacassagne de Lyon, 1886–1914'', Université de Provence, 1984. * Cardon, Patrick, ''Discours littéraire et scientifique fin-de-siècle. La discussion sur les homosexualités dans la revue du Dr Lacassagne, Les Archives d’anthropologie criminelle (1886–1914) – autour de Marc-André Raffalovich –'', Paris: Orizons, 2008, collection « homosexualités » * Cardon, Patrick, ''Un pionnier de l'homoliberté. Avec Marc-André Raffalovitch, l'homosexualité cessait d'être une inversion monstrueuse de l'hétérosexualité''. Numéro 389 du 12 octobre 1989 du journal

Gai Pied ''Gai pied'' or ''Gai pied hebdo'' was a monthly, then weekly (hence the name Hebdo), French gay magazine, founded by Jean Le Bitoux. Its name, which literally means "Gay foot", is a homophone of ''guêpier'', which means a hornet's nest or, figur ...

Hebdo (France) * McCormack, Jerusha Hull, "John Gray: Poet, Dandy, & Priest", University Press of New England, Hanover, N.H., 1991. * McCormack, Jerusha Hull, ''The Man Who was Dorian Gray'', St. Martin's Press, New York, 2000. * Rosario, Vernon, ''L'Irrésistible ascension du pervers'', EPEL "les grands classiques de l'érotologie moderne", 2000 (chapitre 3). * Sewell, père Brocard (dir.), ''Two friends: John Gray and André Raffalovich: essays. Biographical and critical'', Saint Albert's Press, Aylesford (Kent) 1963. * Sewell, père Brocard, ''Footnote to the Nineties: a memoir of John Gray and André Raffalovich'', Cecil and Emilia Woolf, London 1968. . * Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., ''Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII'', Routledge, London, 2001

External links

*
Raffalovich Papers
at

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...

, Manchester. {{DEFAULTSORT:Raffalovich, Marc-Andre 1864 births 1934 deaths Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism English Roman Catholics French gay writers LGBT Jews French LGBT rights activists LGBT Roman Catholics British LGBT writers 19th-century French Jews French LGBT poets French male poets French emigrants to the United Kingdom