Gisèle d'Estoc,

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

of Marie-Paule Alice Courbe (27 March 1845 – 8 May 1894), was a French writer, sculptor, and feminist. She was also a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

list and

cross dresser Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

. Madame Paule Parent Des Barres was either her married name or another pseudonym, while her

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume 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 name may be used to make the author's na ...

s included, Gyz-El and G. d’Estoc.

Biography

Gisèle d'Estoc was born as Marie-Paule Alice Courbe on 27 March 1845, in Nancy. She studied sculpture with Delorme and Chapu, exhibiting her works at the

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

, the official

art exhibition An art exhibition is traditionally the space in which art objects (in the most general sense) meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is occasionally true, it is stated to be a "permanen ...

of the

Académie des Beaux-Arts The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect. Background The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, until 1899. She exhibited ''Un peintre'', a

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

in the sculpture section at the Palais des Champs-Elysées on May 2, 1881, her entry in the event catalogue referring to her as "PARENT DES BARRES (Mme Paule-Marie-Alice, nee COURBE)". The following year, at the same event, she exhibited ''Tête d'Etude'', a bust in dyed plaster, the catalogue referring to her by the same name as the year before. During this time, she began a very strong, friendly relationship with Marie-Edmée Pau, also an artist, in which the two young women developed their affinity for

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

by exploring gender identities, according to Melanie C. Hawthorne. At the end of the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire, officially the French Empire, was the government of France from 1852 to 1870. It was established on 2 December 1852 by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, president of France under the French Second Republic, who proclaimed hi ...

, continuing to refer to herself as "Mme Paule Parent-Desbarres", she moved to Paris and began a literary career, her favorite themes being

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. She maintained women should be accountable for their actions, notably criticizing the journalist Séverine in 1890 for having sent her husband to fight a duel for her. She concluded her

diatribe A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. Hist ...

with "à capacités égales salaire égal" (equal skills, equal pay). Estoc was

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. After 1862, she began a romantic relationship with

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the naturalist school, depicting human lives, destinies and s ...

, who remained close to Estoc until her death, then with Rachilde, a writer and cross-dresser like herself, whom Estoc later criticized in a leaflet. She also had a difficult affair with a rider from the

Cirque Medrano The Cirque Medrano (in English: Circus Medrano) is a French circus that was located at 63 Boulevard de Rochechouart, at the corner of rue des Martyrs, in the 18th arrondissement at the edge of Montmartre in Paris. It was originally called Cirq ...

, Emma Rouër, whom Estoc eventually beat in a duel, injuring her left breast. Her last companion was Léo d'Arkaï (alias, Louis-Joseph Pillard). It was with him that Estoc moved to Nice two years before her death in order to take advantage of the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

. Using the name "G. d'Estoc", she joined the "Ligue de l'affranchissement des femmes" (League for the emancipation of women), just founded by Marie-Rose Astié de Valsayre in 1889. The capital "G." gives her first name an epic tone, while the surname, "d’

Estoc The French estoc is a type of sword, also called a tuck in English, in use from the 14th to the 17th century. It is characterized by a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use and a straight, edgeless, but sharply pointed blade around in le ...

" evokes her practice of fencing and cross-dressing. Estoc also joined the Group of Fencers, again under the influence of Astié, who believed in the need for a group of women to take up the sword to defend their causes. A year before her death, Estoc was a candidate for the 1893 legislative elections. She died 8 May 1894, in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

, at the age of 49.

Legacy

After Estoc's death, her life was examined by Pierre Borel, a biographer, who created an unflattering image of her, describing her as a "fin de siècle ghoul". Madeleine Pelletier (1874–1939) admired in Estoc a "way of luminous emancipation" through the practice of fencing and cross-dressing. Mélanie C. Hawthorne wrote a biography of Estoc in 2013.

Selected works

Sculptures

* Mme Paule-Marie-Alice PARENT DES BARRES, ''Un peintre'', 1881 * Mme Paule-Marie-Alice PARENT DES BARRES, ''Tête d'Etude'', 1882

Publications

* G. d’Estoc, ''Comme quoi les Jésuites pourraient bien ne pas descendre du singe - avis à Darwin'', 1880 * G. d’Estoc, ''La Vierge réclame'', "Les Gloires malsaines", 1887 * Gyz-El, ''Noir sur blanc, récits lorrains'', 1887 * G. d’Estoc, "Cahier d'amour" (1893), ''Guy de Maupassant - Poèmes érotiques'', 1993

Biography

Legacy

Selected works

Sculptures

Publications

Notes

References

Further reading