Françoise Mallet-Joris (6 July 1930 – 13 August 2016), pen name of Françoise Lilar, was a Belgian author who was a member of 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 written ...

committee from 1969 to 1971 and appointed to the ''

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de G ...

'' from November 1971 to 2011.

Early life

Françoise-Eugenie-Julienne Lilar was born on 6 July 1930 in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. She was the first child of writer Suzanne Lilar (first woman admitted to the Antwerp

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

) and Albert Lilar, Belgian

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

. Françoise was also the older sister of Marie Fredericq-Lilar, an 18th century art historian. The household was French-speaking, but Françoise picked up

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

from a maid. As a teenager, Lilar was quite rebellious, and desperately sought her independence from her parents. To defy them, she began dating an older man, playwright Louis Decreux. When her parents found out, they sent her to

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, but it didn't last long. To further annoy her parents, she married a Yale graduate student, Robert Amadou in 1948. The same year, Lilar gave birth to their son, Daniel Amadou. Robert Amadou was French, and through him, Lilar gained French citizenship. After obtaining that, Lilar and Amadou divorced. During her time in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, Lilar attended the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

. Around this time, Lilar and her parents reconciled their relationship.

Career

Lilar began her literary career with the publication of ''Le rempart des Béguines'' in 1951. She published under the name Françoise Mallet to avoid embarrassing her family, due to the novel's scandalous (lesbian) content. Later on in her career, however, she altered her penname to Françoise Mallet-Joris so as not to be confused with

Robert Mallet Robert Mallet (3 June 1810 – 5 November 1881) was an Irish geophysicist, civil engineer, and inventor who distinguished himself in research on earthquakes and is sometimes called the father of seismology. His son, Frederick Richard Mallet was ...

. ''Le rempart des Béguines'' was translated and published in America as ''The Illusionist'' and later on it was reprinted under the titles ''Into the Labyrinth'' and ''The Loving and the Daring.'' It is set in a town that resembles Mallet-Joris' native

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

and addresses the themes of

social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inc ...

and

lesbianism A lesbian is a 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 nouns with fema ...

. She followed her first work with a sequel in 1955 named ''La chambre rouge'', in English; ''The Red Room''. In it, she focused less on lesbian themes but continued her treatment of social class and norms in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. Lilar became quite a prominent literary and public figure in France. As her career progressed, she mostly abandoned her Belgian roots, instead opting for a very Parisian career. Her last novel, ''Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous,'' was published in 2007.

Themes

Mallet-Joris' novels frequently deal with

interpersonal relationship The concept of interpersonal relationship involves social associations, connections, or affiliations between two or more people. Interpersonal relationships vary in their degree of intimacy or self-disclosure, but also in their duration, in t ...

s and social class in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Belgium. Often, characters must deal with disappointment as they realize they have unrealistic expectations. She also depicts social climbers and deceitful characters. In ''Allegra'' (1976) Mallet-Joris tackled the themes of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

in France. She has also written works of non-fiction, like ''The Uncompromising Heart: A Life of

Marie Mancini Anna Maria (Marie) Mancini (28 August 1639 – 8 May 1715) was the third of the five Mancini sisters; nieces to Cardinal Mazarin who were brought to France to marry advantageously. Along with two of their female Martinozzi cousins, the Mancin ...

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

's First Love'' in 1964, and she has written essays about her philosophy of life and writing in ''Lettre à moi-même'' (''A Letter to Myself'') in 1963 and ''La Maison de papier'' (''The Paper House'') in 1970.

Literary awards

Lilar won the "Librarians' Prize" (''Prix des bibliothécaires'') in 1958 for ''House of Lies'' (in French, the title was ''Les mensonges'' which means simply "Lies"), the Femina Prize in 1958 for ''Café Céleste'' (in French, it was called ''L'empire céleste'' which means "Heavenly Empire" or "Celestial Empire", a title that is highly ironic) and the Monaco Prize in 1964 for her biography of

Personal life and death

In 1952, she was married to French historian Alain Joxe, but only for two years. Lilar referred to it as a summer romance. Later, she entered a relationship with Jacques Delfau. They married in 1958. Together, they had three children: Vincent, Alberte, and Pauline. Lilar had affairs with both men and women throughout her lifetime. Around 1970, Lilar met Marie-Paule Belle, a French variety singer who was openly lesbian. The two did not keep their relationship a secret. Lilar even composed lyrics for some of Belle’s songs, including writing the song which would bring Belle to celebrity status. Their affair ended in 1981. One year later, Lilar and Jacques Delfau divorced. From 1969 to 1971, Lilar was a member of the

jury. Because of that, after her term ended, she was unanimously elected to the

Goncourt Academy The Goncourt brothers (, , ) were Edmond de Goncourt (1822–1896) and Jules de Goncourt (1830–1870), both French naturalism writers who, as collaborative sibling authors, were inseparable in life. Background Edmond and Jules were born to mi ...

in November 1971. She held that seat until 2011, when she resigned for health reasons. Françoise Mallet-Joris died on August 13, 2016 in

Bry-sur-Marne Bry-sur-Marne (, literally ''Bry on Marne'') is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune of Bry-sur-Marne is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one ...

, France at the age of 86.

Selected works

*1951: ''Le rempart des Béguines'' (2006 translation by

Herma Briffault Herma Briffault, born Herma Hoyt (1898-1981) was an American ghostwriter and translator of French and Spanish literature.Peter KihssHerma Brifault, 83; Prolific Translator and Ghost Writer '' The New York Times'', August 18, 1981. Life Herma Hoyt ...

as ''The Illusionist'', published by

Cleis Press Cleis Press is an American independent publisher of books in the areas of sexuality, erotica, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, gender studies, fiction, and human rights. The press was founded in 1980 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It later moved to S ...

with introduction by

Terry Castle Terry Castle (born October 18, 1953) is an American literary scholar. Once described by Susan Sontag as "the most expressive, most enlightening literary critic at large today," she has published eight books, including the anthology ''The Literatu ...

. **Previous translations had been titled ''Into the Labyrinth'' or ''The Loving and the Daring'' *1955: ''La chambre rouge'' (''The Red Room'') *1958: ''Cordélia'' (a collection of short stories); *1966: ''Les signes et les prodiges'' (''Signs and Wonders'') *1968: ''Trois âges de la nuit'' (''The Witches'') *1970: ''La Maison de papier'' (''The Paper House'') *1973: ''Le jeu du souterrain'' (''The Underground Game'') *1976: ''Allegra'' *1978: ''Jeanne Guyon'' (a biography) *1980: ''Dickie-Roi'' (miniserie :

Dickie-roi ''Dickie-roi'' is a 1981 French miniseries. Cast * Dave as Dickie-Roi * Erick Desmarestz as Roger Jannequin * Louison Roblin as Janine * Catherine Jacob as Anne-Marie * Jean Benguigui as Alex * Bernard Bauronne as M. Maurice * Pierre Belot as M. ...

) *1985: ''Le rire de Laura'' (''Laura's Laugh'') *1990: ''Adriana Sposa'' *1993: ''Divine'' *1993: ''Les Larmes''

References

External links

* Jean-Louis de Rambures, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Paris 1978 (interview with F. Mallet-Joris, in French)
Bibliography on Académie Goncourt site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallet-Joris, Francoise 1930 births 2016 deaths Writers from Antwerp University of Paris alumni Belgian writers in French Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique Prix Femina winners Prix des libraires winners 20th-century Belgian women writers 21st-century Belgian women writers 20th-century Belgian writers 21st-century Belgian writers