Antoinette Corisande Élisabeth, Duchess of Clermont-Tonnerre (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth ...

de Gramont; 23 April 1875 – 6 December 1954) was a French writer of the early 20th century, best known for her long-term lesbian relationship with

Natalie Clifford Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors through her salon and al ...

, an American writer. Élisabeth de Gramont had grown up among the highest aristocracy; when she was a child, according to

Janet Flanner Janet Flanner (March 13, 1892 – November 7, 1978) was an American writer and pioneering narrative journalist who served as the Paris correspondent of ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1925 until she retired in 1975.Yagoda, Ben ''About T ...

, "peasants on her farm... begged her not to clean her shoes before entering their houses". She looked back on this lost world of wealth and privilege with little regret, and became known as the "red duchess" for her support of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

and feminism. She was a close friend, and sometimes critic of writer

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...

, whom she had first met on 9 June 1903.

Early life

Antonia Corisande Élisabeth de Gramont was born on 23 April 1875 in

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the prefecture of the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was annexed by France under King Louis XV in 1766 and replaced by a pr ...

. Called "Lily", she was the daughter of Agénor, 11th duc de Gramont, and his wife, ''née'' Princesse Isabelle de Beauvau-Craon.Souhami, 72 Her mother died giving birth to her. Her father soon married again to the wealthy Marguerite de Rothschild. Gramont was educated for her class and married Philibert, duc de Clermont-Tonnerre. They had two daughters together.

Natalie Barney

American writer

Natalie Barney Natalie Clifford Barney (October 31, 1876 – February 2, 1972) was an American writer who hosted a literary salon at her home in Paris that brought together French and international writers. She influenced other authors through her salon and al ...

and Duchess de

Clermont-Tonnerre The House of Clermont-Tonnerre is a French noble family, members of which played some part in the history of France, especially in Dauphiné, from about 1100 to the French Revolution (1789–99). History Sibaud, lord of Clermont in Viennois, wh ...

first met in the spring of 1909; they became lovers on 1 May 1910, a date that they celebrated as their anniversary. Although neither was faithful to the other sexually, they were devoted to one another for their entire lives. Elisabeth's husband is said to have been violent and tyrannical. The Duchess accepted Barney's ways—perhaps reluctantly at first—and went out of her way to be gracious to Barney's other lovers. For example, the Duchess always included

Romaine Brooks Romaine Brooks (born Beatrice Romaine Goddard; May 1, 1874 – December 7, 1970) was an American painter who worked mostly in Paris and Capri. She specialized in portraiture and used a subdued tonal palette keyed to the color gray. Brooks ignore ...

when she invited Barney to vacation in the country. Brooks and Barney developed a strong relationship about 1916, and both de Gramont and Brooks had to live with Barney's infidelity. But the three women eventually formed a kind of trio and were devoted to one another for the rest of their lives. On 20 June 1918 Barney and De Gramont filed an "unofficial" but, at least to them, binding "

marriage contract ''Marriage Contract'' () is a 2016 South Korean television series starring Lee Seo-jin and Uee. It aired on MBC from March 5 to April 24, 2016 on Saturdays and Sundays at 22:00 for 16 episodes. Plot Kang Hye-soo ( Uee) is a single mother who ...

". The contract stated, in part; :"After nine years of life together, joys and worries shared, and affairs confessed. For the survival of the bond that we believe-and wish to believe-is unbreakable, since at its lowest level of reciprocal emotionalism that is the conclusion reached. The union, sorely tried by the passing years, failed doubly the faithfulness test in its sixth year, showing us that adultery is inevitable in these relationships where there is no prejudice, no religion other than feelings, no laws other than desire, incapable of vain sacrifices that seem to be the negation of life..." In essence, the contract was to bind them together, at least in their own minds, but did not require them to being only with one another sexually. The contract was honored by both until the Duchess' death in 1954. De Gramont was divorced from Philibert in 1920.Souhami, p. 73 She participated in

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalitio ...

parades, and supported politicians of the left. She died in Paris and is buried at

Ancy-le-Franc Ancy-le-Franc () is a commune in the Yonne department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a ...

, near the family castle of

Bibliography

* ''Almanach des bonnes chances de France'', 1930 * ''Le Diable chez la marquise'', Littéraires, ca; 1938 * ''Autour de Saint-James'', Du Pavois (publishers), 1945 * ''Barbey d'Aurevilly'', Grasset, 1946 * ''La Famille des

'', Fasquelle, 1950 * ''La Femme et la robe, La Palatine'', Paris, Geneva, 1952 * ''Le Comte d'Orsay et Lady Blessington'', 1955 * ''Marcel Proust'', Flammarion, 1948 * ''Mémoires d'Élisabeth de Gramont'', Grasset, 1929 * ''Souvenirs du monde de 1890 à 1940''

References

Sources

External links

Painting of Elisabeth de Gramont by Romaine Brookes
*http://www.marcelproust.it/gallery/gramont.htm# {{DEFAULTSORT:Gramont, Elisabeth De 1875 births 1954 deaths 20th-century French writers French memoirists Bisexual writers LGBT writers from France Bisexual women LGBT Roman Catholics French women memoirists 20th-century French women writers Writers from Nancy, France French socialists French feminists French socialist feminists Catholic socialists