Marcelle Auclair (11 November 1899 – 6 June 1983) was a French novelist, biographer, journalist and poet. She published biographies of several important historical figures, translated major historical/literary documents into French from Spanish, and wrote a novel. She also published an autobiographical work, two books on popular psychology, a religious book for children, a book on artistic images of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

. Several of her books were translated into English. She was co-founder with

Jean Prouvost Jean Prouvost (24 April 1885, Roubaix – 18 October 1978, Yvoy-le-Marron) was a businessman, media owner and French politician. Prouvost was best known for building and owning the publications that became ''France-Soir'', ''Paris Match'', and '' ...

of the fashion magazine '' Marie Claire''.

Biography

Marcelle Auclair was born 11 November 1899 in Montluçon, central France, and died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

on 6 June 1984."AUCLAlR (Marcelle), née à Montluçon le 11 novembre 1899; fille du précédent.... Marcelle Auclair a publié des biographies: La Vie de Sainte Thérèse d'Avila (1950), La Vie de Jean Jaurès (1954), ... Décédée à Paris le 6 juin 1983" (p. 265). In: (285 pages). She was the daughter of the architect Victor Auclair and his wife Eugénie Rateau. She spent part of her childhood and youth in Chile, where her father settled in 1906 to participate in the country's reconstruction after a devastating earthquake. She did her schooling in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

(Chile), where she also learned Spanish and English while reading French authors. Returning to France in 1923, she married the writer Jean Prévost (m. April 28, 1926), with whom she had three children (Michel,

Françoise Françoise () is a French feminine given name (equivalent to the Italian Francesca) and may refer to: * Anne Françoise Elizabeth Lange (1772–1816), French actress * Claudine Françoise Mignot (1624–1711), French adventuress * Françoise Adn ...

, and Alain). They divorced in 1938.

Literary and journalistic contributions

Auclair published biographies of two

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

saints,

Teresa of Avila Teresa (also Theresa, Therese; french: Thérèse) is a feminine given name. It originates in the Iberian Peninsula in late antiquity. Its derivation is uncertain, it may be derived from Greek θερίζω (''therízō'') "to harvest or rea ...

(1950) (493 pages) and Bernadette of Lourdes (1957). (284 pages) She also published biographies of Spanish poet and playwright

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936), known as Federico García Lorca ( ), was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblemat ...

, whom she knew personally (1968), (477 pages) and of the early 20th century pro-peace French socialist

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

(1954). (673 pages) Auclair's first original publication was ''Transparence'', a book of original poetry in Spanish, published when she was 20 years old, and living in Santiago, Chile. (95 pages). Another early publication, in French, was Auclair's novel, ''Toya'', published in 1927. In 1937, Auclair and

founded the fashion magazine '' Marie Claire''."Avec

, Marcelle Auclair fonda « Marie-Claire » magazine féminin inspiré des magazines américains.... Décédée à Paris le 6 juin 1983, elle est inhumée dans l'Essonne auprès de son père" (p. 318). In: (351 pages)."Lancé por

en 1937, le principal acteur de ce renouvellement porte le (prè)nom ''Marie Claire''. Placèe sous la direction de Marcelle Auclair et de Pierre Bost, cette publication qui recourt volontiers au ton de la confidence, s’adresse à l’ensemble des femmes et non plu à la seule bourgeoisie." (p. 65). In: (403 pages). Auclair wrote many articles for ''Marie Claire'', extending over a period of several years. In ''A History of Private Life'' (1991), Antoine Prost (1991). "Public and Private Spheres in France". In: . Translation of ''Histoire de la privée''. Paris:

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as ''Le Seuil'', is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil' ...

, 1987. writing about Auclair's time as a columnist for the magazine '' Marie Claire'', Antoine Prost stated that In the 1950s, Auclair published two popular books on how to lead a happy life, ''Le bonheur est en vous'' (1951) and ''La Pratique du bonheur'' (1956). In 1953, Auclair published a French-language children's book about the life of Jesus. (126 pages) The book was republished in English translation in both the US (93 pages). Translation of ''La bonne nouvelle annoncee aux enfants'' and the UK. (125 pages) Auclair's translation of the complete works of Teresa of Avila from Spanish to French was first published in 1964.

, ''Oeuvres complètes'' (Marcelle Auclair, trans.). First edition, in one volume (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 1964): Œuvres complètes (1177 pages). Fifth edition in two volumes (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 2007): ''Oeuvres complètes'', vol. I, , (pp. 605 pages); vol. II, , (pp. 610-1177). At age 78, five years before her death, Auclair published an autobiographical work with her daughter, actress Françoise Prévost. (429 pages) In ''European Literary Heritage'',"Marcelle (Auclair)" (pp. 279-280) in: (600 pages) (vol 13 of Patrimoine littéraire européen: anthologie en langue française, published 1992-2000, , ) Auclair was described as "particularly attached to moral issues and the situation of women in the contemporary world articulièrement attachée aux problèmes moraux et à la situation de la femme dans le monde contemporain"

Selected works

Translated into English

*(457 pages) ::*French original: (493 pages) ::*German translation: (491 pages) * (204 pages) ::*French original: (284 pages) * (139 pages) ::*French original: (144 pages)

French, untranslated into English

* (218 pages) * (673 pages) * (200 pages) * (477 pages) ::*Spanish translation: (411 pages). Includes excerpts from García Lorca's works. * (429 pages)

Children's books

* (126 pages) ::*English edition (US): (93 pages). Translation of ''La bonne nouvelle annoncee aux enfants'' ::*English edition (UK): (125 pages)

References

External links

Photograph and Videos of Marcelle Auclaire
(at :fr:Babelio) {{DEFAULTSORT:Auclair, Marcelle 1899 births 1983 deaths 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French journalists French women journalists 20th-century French novelists People from Montluçon 20th-century French women writers