Alix Cléo Roubaud (January 19, 1952 – January 28, 1983) was a Canadian photographer and writer.

Biography

Alix Cléo Blanchette was born in Mexico, January 19, 1952. She was the daughter of Arthur Edward Blanchette, a diplomat, and Marcelle Montreuil, an artist. She studied architecture and psychology at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. In 1972, she moved to

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...

, France, where she pursued studies in philosophy. The move to France was also intended to help with her

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. She began studies at

Paris 8 University Paris 8 University (), or usually the University of Vincennes in Saint-Denis or Paris 8, is a public university in the Greater Paris, France. Once part of the historic University of Paris, it is now an autonomous public institution. It is base ...

in 1975. In 1978, she began visiting the spa town of La Bourboule each year to aid her health. In 1979, she abandoned her studies to concentrate on her photography. In 1980, she married

Jacques Roubaud Jacques Roubaud (; 5 December 1932 – 5 December 2024) was a French poet, writer, and mathematician. Life and career Jacques Roubaud taught mathematics at University of Paris X Nanterre and poetry at EHESS. A member of the Oulipo group, he h ...

, a French poet and academic. Jean Eustache produced the 1980 film ''Les Photos d'Alix'' based on her photographs.

Death and legacy

Roubaud died 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 ...

of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

at the age of 31. She had maintained a personal journal over her career and, in 1984, her husband decided to publish it. In 2014, the

Bibliothèque nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

presented a retrospective of her work, ''Quinze minutes la nuit au rythme de la respiration''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roubaud, Alix Cleo 1952 births 1983 deaths Canadian women non-fiction writers University of Ottawa alumni 20th-century Canadian women photographers 20th-century Canadian photographers