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Raïssa Maritain (née Oumansoff) (September 12, 1883 in
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
– November 4, 1960 in
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 ...
) was a French poet and philosopher. She was the wife of
Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...
, with whom she worked and whose companion she was for more than half a century, at the center of a circle of French Catholic intellectuals. Her memoir, ''Les Grandes Amitiés'', which won the prix du Renouveau français, chronicles this. Jacques Maritain, Raïssa and her sister Vera (1886-1959) formed what would be called "the three Maritains".


Biography

She was born on September 12, 1883 (Julian date: August 31, 1883) in the Russian Empire, in Rostov-on-Don, to a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. Her parents were Ilya (Yuda) Oumansoff (Umantzov) (January 25, 1859 in Pavlohrad - February 21, 1912 in Paris) and Hissia (Gisya) Brozgol (December 29, 1859 in
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
- May 21, 1932 in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
). Her parents came from very devout and observant Hasidic Jewish families. Her father ran a sewing workshop, while her mother performed all kinds of household chores. When Raïssa was two years old, her family moved to Mariupol, by the Sea of Azov. She was deeply shaped by the piety and traditions of her observant family, especially by the example of her maternal grandfather Solomon (Zalman) Brozgol (1830 - March 11, 1896 in
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
). Later, in Raïssa's poems, essays, and diary she revealed a very pure, mystical approach, the source of which she described thus: "My maternal grandfather was a Ḥasid, and my father's father was a great ascetic sage. This is my inheritance." Her maternal grandmother was Gnessya (Nesya) Brozgol (née Rosenblum) (1832 - May 19, 1899 in
Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...
). In
Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
, her sister Véra was born in 1886. Very early on, Raïssa showed a great desire to learn. At seven she was admitted to high school despite the very limited quotas for Jews. She admired everything related to school and knowledge and did very well in her studies. In 1893, when she was ten years old, her parents decided to emigrate. They wanted to ensure the future of their two daughters, Raïssa and Vera, which seemed difficult in Russia because of anti-Semitic discrimination. Their father's initial plan was to go as far as New York, but a friend persuaded him to settle in Paris. The family emigrated to France, where Raïssa continued her education in a communal school in the Passage de la Bonne Graine. In two weeks, she learned French well enough to understand the lessons and be ranked second in the class. Two years later, she changed schools and prepared to enter university.


Jacques Maritain

At seventeen she began her studies at the Sorbonne, where she followed courses in science. There she met the young
Jacques Maritain Jacques Maritain (; 18 November 1882 – 28 April 1973) was a French Catholic philosopher. Raised as a Protestant, he was agnostic before converting to Catholicism in 1906. An author of more than 60 books, he helped to revive Thomas Aqui ...
, a graduate in philosophy who was preparing for a degree in science, and they got engaged. However, their encounter with the arid
materialism Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...
and all-encompassing
determinism Determinism is the Metaphysics, metaphysical view that all events within the universe (or multiverse) can occur only in one possible way. Deterministic theories throughout the history of philosophy have developed from diverse and sometimes ov ...
of their professors, especially Félix Le Dantec, brought them by 1901 to the brink of despair.
So we decided to put our trust in the unknown for a while longer; we would extend credit to existence, look upon it as an experiment to be made, in the hope that at our vehement appeal the meaning of life would be revealed, that new values would stand forth so clearly that they would enlist our total adherence, and deliver us from the nightmare of a sinister and useless world. But if this experiment did not succeed, the solution would be suicide; suicide before the years accumulated their dust, before our young strength was worn out. We wanted to die by free refusal if it was impossible to live according to the truth."
In 1904, she spent her holidays in a village in Loiret with her family and Jacques Maritain. As hygiene standards were not respected at the inn where they were staying, Raïssa developed a sore throat. She was diagnosed with retropharyngeal phlegmon, a disease that caused health problems that she would experience until the end of her life and which prevented her from having a regular occupation.
Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...
's courses at the
Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...
, which Maritain and Raïssa began to attend on the advice of their good friend Charles Péguy, helped them to get out of this despair by enabling them to sense the existence of objective truth and "the very possibility of metaphysical work". They got married in 1904. In 1912, Jacques and Raïssa made a private vow to abstain from sexual relations for life.


Conversion to Catholicism

Also in 1904, they met
Léon Bloy Léon Bloy (; 11 July 1846 – 3 November 1917) was a French Catholic novelist, essayist, pamphleteer (or lampoonist), and satirist, known additionally for his eventual (and passionate) defense of Catholicism and for his influence within Frenc ...
who became their great friend, and they converted to Catholicism. Their baptism, as well as that of Raïssa's sister Véra, took place on June 11, 1906, at the Saint-Jean church in Montmartre, with Bloy as godfather. After her conversion, Raïssa felt called to have a contemplative life, which was then reserved for nuns. With the help of her husband Jacques and her sister Vera, she managed to find a balance between her prayer life and her place in the world. Jacques and Raïssa Maritain chose Humbert Clérissac, a Dominican, as their first spiritual director. After his death, another Dominican, Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, became their spiritual father and their friend. Raïssa and Jacques Maritain forged a great friendship with , a Cistercian — a former opium addict and lover of
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 ...
—, who would go to work in a leper colony in Cameroon – they left an extensive correspondence. Jean Bourgoint was greatly affected by the death of Raïssa on November 4, 1960.


Veneration

A cause for
beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...
of her and her husband Jacques was being planned in 2011. (8 February 2011) Since then, there have been no advancements in the case.


Publications

Essays * ''De mœurs divines'', Librairie de l’Art catholique, Paris 1921. * ''De la vie d’oraison'', À l’Art catholique, Paris 1925. * ''Le Prince de ce monde'', Plon, Paris 1929. * ''L’Ange de l’École, ou saint Thomas d’Aquin raconté aux enfants'', Alsatia, Paris 1957. * ''Marc Chagall'', Éditions de la Maison française, New York 1943. * ''Léon Bloy'', Pilgrim of the Absolute, Pantheon Books, New York-London 1947. * ''Les Grandes Amitiés'', coll. « Livre de vie », Desclée de Brouwer, 1949. * ''Liturgie et contemplation'', Desclée de Brouwer, Paris 1959. * ''Journal de Raïssa'', Desclée de Brouwer, Paris 1962. Poetry * ''La Vie donnée'', Labergerie, Paris 1935. * ''Lettre de nuit'', Desclée de Brouwer, Paris 1939. * ''Portes de l’horizon'', Monastère Regina Laudis, Bethlehem (Connecticut) 1952. * ''Poèmes et essais'', Desclée de Brouwer, Paris 1968.


Notes References

* Moore, Brenna. (2013).''Sacred dread: Raïssa Maritain, the allure of suffering, and the French Catholic revival (1905-1944)''. Notre Dame, Ind: Univ. of Notre Dame Press.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maritain, Raissa 1883 births 1960 deaths 19th-century Jews from the Russian Empire 20th-century French philosophers 20th-century French poets Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France French Roman Catholics Jewish atheists University of Paris alumni Writers from Rostov-on-Don