Marie de Régnier (; 20 December 1875 – 6 February 1963), also known by her maiden name Marie de Heredia or her pen-name Gérard d'Houville (), was a French novelist and poet, and closely involved in the artistic circles of early twentieth-century Paris.

Biography

Marie de Heredia was the second of three daughters of Cuban-born French poet

José-Maria de Heredia José-Maria de Heredia (22 November 1842 – 3 October 1905) was a Cuban-born French Parnassian poet. He was the fifteenth member elected for seat 4 of the Académie française in 1894. Biography Early years Heredia was born at Fortuna Ca ...

, and from an early age she mixed with many writers and artists who came to her father's house, including

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas i ...

Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan; ; 15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian, Greek and Bulgarian descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. She was the only female poet ...

Paul Valéry Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry (; 30 October 1871 – 20 July 1945) was a French poet, essayist, and philosopher. In addition to his poetry and fiction (drama and dialogues), his interests included aphorisms on art, history, letters, m ...

Pierre Louÿs Pierre-Félix Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perf ...

and

Anatole France (; born ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters.Tama Lea Engelking, ‘The Secret Rebellion of a Literary Daughter: The Poetry of Gérard d'Houville’, ''French Literary Series'' vol. XVI, 1989 Her private life was somewhat convoluted. She married poet

Henri de Régnier Henri-François-Joseph de Régnier (; 28 December 1864 – 23 May 1936) was a French symbolist poet, considered one of the most important of France during the early 20th century. Life and works He was born in Honfleur ( Calvados) on 28 December ...

, but had a long-term relationship with

, who was probably the father of her son Pierre de Régnier (1898–1943). She also took several other lovers, including Edmond Jaloux, Jean-Louis Vaudoyer, Gabriele D'Annunzio (during his exile in Paris from 1910 to 1914), and dramatist

Henri Bernstein Henri-Léon-Gustave-Charles Bernstein (20 June 1876 – 27 November 1953) was a French playwright associated with Boulevard theatre. Biography Bernstein was born in Paris. His earliest plays, including ''La Rafale'' (1905), ''Le Voleur'' (1907) ...

. Her association with openly lesbian colleagues also led to rumours about her own sexuality.

Works

Though sometimes better known for her liaisons with other artists, Marie de Régnier was a very accomplished poet and novelist in her own right, "considered one of the most gifted of the bevy of women writers that her age produced". Her first attempts at poetry were written at the

Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal The Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal (, ''Library of the Arsenal'', founded 1757) in Paris has been part of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1934. History The collections of the library originated with the private library of Marc Antoine ...

, where her father was a director. He and his friends encouraged her talents from a very young age, and she eventually began publishing under her married name, later taking the masculine-sounding pseudonym "Gérard d'Houville" (derived from the name of a Norman grandmother, "Louise Gérard d'Houville" or "Girard d'Ouville"Norman R. Shapiro (Ed.), ''French Women Poets of Nine Centuries'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008, ). She later said her use of a pen-name was a way of distancing herself from her more famous husband and father, but it was not a serious attempt to disguise her sex: contemporary critics and commentators always referred to "Madame" Gérard d'Houville. Her work appeared notably in the '' Revue des deux Mondes'' from 1894 and was widely admired, with some critics comparing her favourably to Mallarmé. Many of these poems have still not been collected into a modern edition. Her first novel, ''L'Inconstante'', appeared in 1903.

Critical reception and legacy

De Heredia's work was acclaimed throughout her career and she was a popular writer with the public as well as critics. When French newspaper ''

L'Intransigeant ''L'Intransigeant'' was a French newspaper founded in July 1880 by Henri Rochefort. Initially representing the left-wing opposition, it moved towards the right during the Boulanger affair (Rochefort supported Boulanger) and became a major right-wi ...

'' asked readers in 1910 to name the top three female writers deserving of a place in the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, "Gérard d'Houville" was placed in top position, above

and

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

.Jennifer E. Milligan, ''The Forgotten Generation: French Women Writers of the Inter-war Period'', Berg Publishers 1996, In 1918 she was the recipient of the

's inaugural ''Grand Prix de Littérature'', awarded for her fiction, and in 1958 she was also given the Académie's ''Grand Prix de Poésie'' for her poetic oeuvre – to this day the only woman to have received both awards. Several artists and painters of the time took her portrait, including

Jacques-Émile Blanche Jacques-Émile Blanche (; 1 January 1861 – 30 September 1942) was a French artist, largely self-taught, who became a successful portrait painter, working in London and Paris. Early life Blanche, an only child, was born in Paris in the 16em ...

and

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain (; 23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was m ...

. She was also the subject of several of

's nude photographs.

Select bibliography

* ''L'Inconstante'', roman, 1903 * ''Esclave'', 1905 * ''Le Temps d'aimer'', 1908 * ''Le Séducteur'', 1914 * ''Jeune Fille'', 1916 * ''Tant pis pour toi'', 1921 * ''Le Roman des quatre'', 1923 (written in collaboration with

Paul Bourget Paul Charles Joseph Bourget (; 2 September 185225 December 1935) was a French poet, novelist and critic. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. Paul Bourget was born in Amiens, France. He initially abandoned Catholicism ...

Henri Duvernois Henri Duvernois (4 March 1875 in Paris - 30 January 1937 in Paris) was a French novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Filmography *''La Guitare et le Jazz-band'', directed by Gaston Roudès (1923, based on the play ''La Guitare et le Jazz-b ...

and Pierre Benoit) * ''Le Chou'', 1924 * ''Vingt poèmes'', 1925 * ''L'Enfant'', 1925 * ''La Vie amoureuse de l'Impératrice Joséphine'', 1925 * ''Clowns'', 1925 * ''Paris et les voyages'', 1925 * ''Chez le magicien'', 1926 * ''Proprette et Cochonnet'', 1926 * ''Opinions candides'', 1926 * ''Je crois que je vous aime... Sept proverbes'', 1927 * ''Esclave amoureuse'', 1927 * ''La Vie amoureuse de la Belle Hélène'', 1928 * ''Le Diadème de Flore'', 1928 * ''Le Charmant Rendez-Vous'', 1929 * ''Les Rêves de Rikiki'', 1930 * ''Les Poésies'', 1931 * ''L'Impératrice Joséphine'', 1933 * ''Peau d'âme'', 1935 * ''Le Temps d'aimer'', 1935 * ''Enfantines et Amoureuses'', 1946

Film

* 2019 : ''

Curiosa Curiosa may refer to: * Curiosa (erotica), erotica and pornography as discrete, collectable items, usually in published or printed form * ''Curiosa'' (film), a 2019 French film directed by Lou Jeunet, with actress Amira Casar * '' Curiosa Festiv ...

'', an erotic French movie directed by Lou Jeunet.

External links

Selected poems
(in French)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Regnier, Marie de Writers from Paris 1875 births 1963 deaths 20th-century French poets 20th-century French novelists Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 20th-century French women writers