Suzanne Georgette Anna Déchevaux-Dumesnil (Argenteuil 7 January 1900 – Paris 17 July 1989)
[Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil]
at findagrave.com was the lover and later wife of
Samuel Beckett.
In the 1930s, Beckett chose Déchevaux-Dumesnil as his lover over the heiress
Peggy Guggenheim
Marguerite "Peggy" Guggenheim ( ; August 26, 1898 – December 23, 1979) was an American art collector, bohemian and socialite. Born to the wealthy New York City Guggenheim family, she was the daughter of Benjamin Guggenheim, who went down wi ...
. Six years older than Beckett, Déchevaux-Dumesnil was an austere woman known for avant-garde tastes and
left-wing politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soc ...
. She was a pianist.
During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, Beckett joined the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
. For over two years, he and Déchevaux-Dumesnil hid from the Germans in a village in the South of France.
[Context]
of ''Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
'' at sparknotes.com
Beckett's ''
Waiting for Godot'' has been called "a metaphor for the long walk into
Roussillon, when Beckett and Suzanne slept in haystacks... during the day and walked by night..."
During the relationship between Beckett and Déchevaux-Dumesnil, which lasted more than 50 years, she maintained a private circle of friends and is credited with having influenced Beckett to produce more work.
During the late 1950s, Beckett often stayed in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where he met
Barbara Bray
Barbara Bray (née Jacobs; 24 November 1924 – 25 February 2010) was an English translator and critic.
Early life
Bray was born in Maida Vale, London; her parents had Belgian and Jewish origins. An identical twin (her sister Olive Classe was al ...
, a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
script-editor, a widow in her 30s. James Knowlson writes of them: "Beckett seems to have been immediately attracted to her and she to him. Their encounter was highly significant for them both, for it represented the beginning of a relationship that was to last, in parallel with that with Suzanne, for the rest of his life." Soon, their association became "a very intimate and personal one". In a visit to
in January 1961, Bray told Beckett she had decided to move there.
His response was unusual. In March 1961, he married Déchevaux-Dumesnil in a civil ceremony in
. On the face of it, this was to make sure that, if he died before her, Déchevaux-Dumesnil would inherit the rights to his work because there was no
. He may also have wanted to affirm his loyalty to her.