Louise de Vilmorin (1902–1969)
Author of Madame de
About the Author
Works by Louise de Vilmorin
Le violon de Crémone 1 copy
Fin des Villavide La 1 copy
Fiançailles pour rire 1 copy
Articles de mode 1 copy
Histoire d’aimer [Vilmorin] 1 copy
The tapestry bed 1 copy
I gioielli di madame de *** 1 copy
Associated Works
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Vilmorin, Louise de
- Legal name
- Vilmorin, Marie Louise Lévêque de
- Other names
- Leigh-Hunt, Louise (Nom d'alliance)
Pálffy, Louise
Vilmorin, Louise Levêque de - Birthdate
- 1902-04-04
- Date of death
- 1969-12-26
- Burial location
- Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, Île-de-France, France
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, Île-de-France, France
- Place of death
- Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, Île-de-France, France
- Places of residence
- Verrières-le-Buisson, Essonne, Île-de-France, France
Paris, Île-de-France, France
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA - Occupations
- novelist
poet
journalist
screenwriter
letter writer - Relationships
- Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de (lover)
Malraux, André (companion)
Duff Cooper, Alfred (lover)
Cocteau, Jean (friend) - Awards and honors
- Légion d'honneur
- Short biography
- Louise de Vilmorin was born in the family château at Verrières-le-Buisson in Essonne, a suburb of Paris, France. She was the daughter of Philippe de Vilmorin and his wife Mélanie de Gaufridy de Dortan. She was the heir to Vilmorin & Cie, one of the largest seed producers in the world, founded by an 18th century ancestor. At age 32, she published her first novel, Sainte-Unefois (Saint One Time, 1934), which was largely autobiographical. Her first poetry collection, Fiançailles pour rire (Betrothal in Jest), appeared in 1939. Although she was to publish more poetry later in life, Vilmorin received most acclaim for her novels, with characters usually from aristocratic or artistic circles. A number of them were adapted into films, including Le Lit à colonnes (The Tapestry Bed), Julietta, and most famously, Madame de … (which became The Earrings of Madame de...). She also was a screenwriter and dialogue writer for several feature films, including Les Amants (1957). As a young woman, she was briefly engaged to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. She married her first husband Henry Leigh-Hunt in 1925 and lived with him in Las Vegas, Nevada, before divorcing and returning to France in the 1930s. She spent the last years of her life as the companion of André Malraux, the French Minister of Cultural Affairs. Her letters to Jean Cocteau were published posthumously.
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Statistics
- Works
- 37
- Also by
- 3
- Members
- 216
- Popularity
- #103,224
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 2
- ISBNs
- 43
- Languages
- 5
I like to think that De Vilmorin set her tale in the past and wrote in the style of 19th century French fiction because she was pleased that women such as Madame De no longer existed. I have recently bought Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved and Died in the 1940s by Anne Sebba and although I’ve only read a couple of chapters, the book shows that reality of life under Nazi Occupation meant that there were grave risks for weak-willed women dependent on men for their sense of self. Then again, the 21st century is replete with celebrity airheads who marry foolish rich men, and maybe De Vilmorin was satirising the behaviour of collaborators.
An idle woman with no children, Madame De is preoccupied with being elegant because that is the mark of merit in the circle of society to which Mme De belonged. She sets the fashion and others follow. Balzac wrote many stories about women such as her, often in contrast to women who used their wit and intelligence to achieve something worthwhile despite the patriarchal society they lived in.
To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2017/02/16/madame-de-by-louise-de-vilmorin-translated-b...… (more)