Marie Louise Lévêque de Vilmorin (4 April 1902 – 26 December 1969), commonly known as Louise de Vilmorin, was a French novelist, poet and journalist. Vilmorin was best known as a writer of delicate but

mordant A mordant or dye fixative is a substance used to set (i.e., bind) dyes on fabrics. It does this by forming a coordination complex with the dye, which then attaches to the fabric (or tissue). It may be used for dyeing fabrics or for intensifying ...

tales, often set in

aristocratic Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian co ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

istic milieu.

Early life

Born 4 April 1902 in the family château at

Verrières-le-Buisson Verrières-le-Buisson () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is from the centre of Paris, in the Essonne department just outside the inner ring of the Île-de-France. The commune borders the river Bièvre. History T ...

Essonne Essonne () is a department in the southern part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. It is named after the river Essonne. In 2019, it had a population of 1,301,659, across 194 communes.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 ...

, she was heir to a great French seed company fortune, that of

Vilmorin Vilmorin is a French seed producer. The company has a long history in France, where it was family-controlled for almost two centuries, and today exists as a publicly traded company owned principally by agro-industrial cooperative Groupe Limagr ...

. She was afflicted with a slight limp that became a personal trademark. Louise was the younger daughter of

Philippe de Vilmorin Joseph-Marie-Philippe Lévêque de Vilmorin (21 May 1872 – 29 June 1917), generally known as Philippe de Vilmorin, was a noted French botanist and plant collector, and a member of the celebrated Vilmorin family of horticulturists. In 1903 Vilm ...

(1872–1917) by his wife, Berthe Marie ''Mélanie'' de Gaufridy de Dortan (1876–1937), daughter of Roger de Gaufridy de Dortan (1843–1905) and his wife, Adélaïde de Verdonnet (1853–1918), all members of an old

French nobility The French nobility () was an Aristocracy, aristocratic social class in France from the France in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First French Empire, ...

. Her siblings included a sister, Marie "Mapie" Pierre (1901–1972), who married, as her first husband, a cousin, Guy Marie Félix Lévêque de Vilmorin (1896-1984) in 1922 (div. 1932) by whom she had three children. She married again in 1933, Guillaume de Toulouse-Lautrec-Montfa, comte de Toulouse-Lautrec (1902–1955), a relative of the painter

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

; by him she had further issue a son and a daughter. She became a popular food columnist in French magazines as Mapie de Toulouse-Lautrec. In addition, Louise had four brothers: Henry (1903–1961), Olivier (1904–1962), André (1907–1987), and Roger (1905–1980), who was fathered by

Alfonso XIII of Spain Alfonso XIII ( Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also ...

Career

Her most famous novel was ''Madame de...'', published in 1951, which was adapted into the celebrated film '' The Earrings of Madame de...'' (1953), directed by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

and starring

Charles Boyer Charles Boyer (; 28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French-American actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found his success in American fi ...

Danielle Darrieux Danielle Yvonne Marie Antoinette Darrieux (; 1 May 1917 – 17 October 2017) was a French actress of stage, television and film, as well as a singer and dancer. Beginning in 1931, she appeared in more than 110 films. She was one of France's g ...

and

Vittorio de Sica Vittorio De Sica ( , ; 7 July 1901 – 13 November 1974) was an Italian film director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement. Widely considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema, four of the fil ...

. Vilmorin's other works included ''Juliette'', ''La lettre dans un taxi'', ''Les belles amours'', ''Saintes-Unefois'', and ''Intimités''. Her letters to

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

were published after the death of both correspondents. She was awarded the

Renée Vivien prize Renée (without the accent in non-French speaking countries) is a French feminine given name and surname. Renée is the female form of René, with the extra "e" making it feminine according to French grammar. The name Renée is the French form ...

for women poets in 1949.

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

literally sang her praises, considering her an equal to

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

and

Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic c ...

, found in her writing "a sort of sensitive impertinence, ''libertinage'', and an appetite which, carried on into song swhat I tried to express in my extreme youth with

Marie Laurencin Marie Laurencin (31 October 1883 – 8 June 1956) was a French painter and printmaker. She became an important figure in the Parisian avant-garde as a member of the Cubists associated with the Section d'Or. Biography Laurencin was born in Par ...

in ''Les Biches''". (Ivry 1996)

Relationships

As a young woman, in 1923, she had been engaged to novelist and aviator

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

; however, the engagement was called off, even though Saint-Exupéry gave up flying for a while after her family protested such a risky occupation. Vilmorin's first husband was an American real-estate heir, Henry Leigh Hunt (1886–1972), the only son of Leigh S. J. Hunt, a businessman who once owned much of

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

by his wife, Jessie Noble. They married in 1925 (1924 according to other sources), moved to Las Vegas, and divorced in the 1930s. They had three daughters: * Jessie Leigh Hunt (b. 3 February 1929,

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a department in the Île-de-France region of France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and ...

, Neuilly-sur-Seine not 1928 as misreported). She married in 1951 (divorced by 1962) Albert Cabell Bruce Jr. (b. 11 August 1925), only son of Albert Cabell Bruce (nephew of

William Cabell Bruce William Cabell Bruce (March 12, 1860May 9, 1946) was an American politician and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who represented the State of Maryland in the United States Senate from 1923 to 1929. Background Bruce was born at Staunton Hill in Ch ...

) by his wife, Helen Eccleston Whitridge (granddaughter of Gov.

Oden Bowie Oden Bowie (November 10, 1826December 4, 1894), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 34th governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872. Childhood He was born in 1826 at Fairview Plantation in Col ...

), by whom she had issue, four sons: Cabell, Leigh, Thomas, and James, all born 1952–1959 in

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Midland County with small portions extending into Martin County. The population was 132,524 as of the 2020 census. Located in the Permian Basin in West Texas, Midland is a ...

. She then married Clement Biddle Wood, an editor of ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

'', in 1965. * Alexandra Leigh Hunt (b. 1 April 1930, Hauts-de-Seine, Neuilly-sur-Seine) married Henry Ridgeley Horsey (b. 18 October 1924,

Dover, Delaware Dover ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and the List of municipalities in Delaware, second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Delaware. It is also the county seat of Kent County, Delaware, Kent County and the princ ...

, USA). Her children were Henry Ridgely Horsey Jr., Edmond Philip de Vilmorin Horsey, Alexandra Thérèse Leigh-Hunt Horsey, Randall Revell Horsey, Philippa Ridgely Horsey, * Helena Leigh Hunt (23 June 1931, Hauts-de-Seine, Neuilly-sur-Seine – 28 December 1995, Southampton Hospital, Long Island, New York, aged 64), a realist still-life painter. She was married (div) to John Tracy Baxter (b. 23 August 1926,

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

), with whom according to the New York obituary, she had three daughters, Elizabeth Baxter, Etienne Baxter, and Leigh Baxter (Mrs Warre). Her second husband was Count

Paul Pálffy ab Erdöd Count Franz Paul Rudolf Maria Josef Pálffy ab Erdöd (12 February 1890 – 11 October 1968) was a Hungarian aristocrat, landowner, and author best known for his eight marriages. Early life Franz Paul Rudolf Maria Josef was born on 12 February ...

(1890–1968), a much-married Austrian-born Hungarian playboy, who had been second husband to the Hungarian countess better known as

Etti Plesch Etti Plesch, born Countess Maria Anna Paula Ferdinandine von Wurmbrand-Stuppach (3 February 1914 – 29 April 2003), was an Austro-Hungarian countess, huntress, racehorse owner, and socialite. Plesch lost two of her six husbands to the same ...

, owner of two Epsom Derby winners. Palffy married Louise as his fifth wife in 1938, but the couple soon divorced. Vilmorin was the mistress of another of Etti Plesch's husbands, Count Maria ''Thomas'' Paul Esterházy de Galántha (1901–1964), who left his wife in 1942 for Vilmorin. They never married. For a number of years, she was the mistress of

Duff Cooper Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich, (22 February 1890 – 1 January 1954), known as Duff Cooper, was a British Conservative Party politician and diplomat who was also a military and political historian and writer. First elected to Parl ...

, British ambassador to France. Louise spent the last years of her life as the companion of the French Cultural Affairs Minister and author

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( ; ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (''Man's Fate'') (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed ...

, calling herself "Marilyn Malraux".

Death and legacy

Louise de Vilmorin died 26 December 1969. She is memorialised in placenames across France, including in

Limeil-Brévannes Limeil-Brévannes () is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Geography Climate Limeil-Brévannes has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The average annual te ...

Mantes-la-Jolie Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a Communes of France, commune in the Yvelines Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, f ...

Draveil Draveil () is a commune in the Essonne department in the southern outer suburbs of Paris, France.Saint-Pierre-du-Perray Saint-Pierre-du-Perray () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Pierre-du-Perray are known as ''Saint-Perreyens''. See also *Communes of the Essonne department The foll ...

Mennecy Mennecy () is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. Geography Mennecy is 33 kilometers south east of Paris-Notre-Dame, point zero from roads of France, 8 kilometers south of Évry, 6 kilometers south west of ...

and Avrainville.

In popular culture

She was a significant character in Antonio Iturbe’s 2017 Spanish language novel ''A cielo abierto'' which was translated into English and published in 2021 with the title ''The Prince of the Skies''.

References

Bibliography

* Ivry, Benjamin (1996): ''Francis Poulenc'', 20th-Century Composers series. Phaidon Press Limited, . * Bothorel, Jean (1993): ''Louise ou la Vie de Louise de Vilmorin'', Bernard Grasset, Paris * Wagener, Françoise (2008), ''Je suis née inconsolable: Louise de Vilmorin (1902–1969)'', Albin Michel, Paris, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilmorin, Louise Leveque De 1902 births 1969 deaths People from Verrières-le-Buisson French women journalists 20th-century French novelists French women novelists French women poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French women writers