Claude Ferval (18561943) was a French novelist, biographer and poet. Claude Ferval was the pen name used by Baroness Marguerite Aimery Harty de Pierrebourg, née Thomas-Galline.

Biography

Marguerite Thomas-Galline was born on 15 June 1856 in

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

. Her father was a general and moved from garrison to garrison. She spent part of her childhood in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

where she was a boarder at the Assumption Convent. In Lyon on 18 April 1876, she married Baron Aimery Harty de Pierrebourg and they had a son and daughter. She followed him to

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and his other postings. For about ten years she devoted herself to painting, attending the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

, working under the direction of painter

Tony Robert-Fleury Tony Robert-Fleury (1 September 18378 December 1911) was a French painter, known primarily for historical scenes. He was also a prominent art teacher, with many famous artists among his students. Biography He was born just outside Paris, and st ...

and exhibiting at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

. After her daughter's marriage in 1910 Count Georges de Lauris, Ferval wrote and published her first novel ''L'autre amour'', which received good reviews and a prize from the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Claude Ferval separated from her husband and later had a long affair with novelist

Paul Hervieu Paul Hervieu (2 September 185725 October 1915) was a French novelist and playwright. Early years He was born Paul-Ernest Hervieu in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. Hervieu was born into a wealthy upper-middle-class family. He studied law, but soug ...

, who died in 1915. She authored many novels. A friend and a regular visitor to "Madame de Pierrebourg's Salon" located at 1 avenue du

Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

, appreciated the literary quality of Ferval's novels. He even asked her opinion about his own writings: "for the book I am finishing, I would like to have your advice"; "if what I think really worries you a little ..nothing is more reciprocal. Weren't you, I think, the only person I used to ask for advice for an edition of my

pastiches A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

?" Claude Ferval devoted the rest of her literary career to writing biographies, most often of great female figures. The critical reception was generally very favorable, for example author

Maurice Rostand Maurice Rostand (26 May 1891 – 21 February 1968) was a French author, the son of the poet and dramatist Edmond Rostand and the poet Rosemonde Gérard, and brother of the biologist Jean Rostand. Rostand was a writer of poems, novels, and play ...

wrote about her book, ''Ninon et son cortège'', "Here is a very beautiful book and of such endearing poetry that it is impossible to interrupt the reading once begun. The charm of ''Ninon'' seems to still live there, stolen from the smile of her portraits, from the silence of her tomb. And the charm that emanates from it, this charm at once so persistent and so strong, is the most different from that which generally arises from these historical resurrections. It is that, like any superior work, this beautiful book has a secret..." In 1912, Ferval was one of the members of the all-female jury, and became jury president, for the Prix de la Vie Heureuse, whose name, in 1922, would become the

Prix Fémina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or verse by male or female writers, and is announced on ...

. She was a member of the

Société des Gens de Lettres The Société des gens de lettres de France (SGDLF; ; ) is a writers' association founded in 1838 by the notable French authors George Sand, Honoré de Balzac, Victor Hugo, and Alexandre Dumas. It is a private association recognised in France as ...

. She died on 20 April 1943, in Herbault (

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...

), France, and is buried in

Passy Cemetery Passy Cemetery () is a small cemetery in Passy, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. History The current cemetery replaced the old cemetery (''l'ancien cimetière communal de Passy'', located on Rue Lekain), which was closed in 1802. ...

in Paris, in the tomb of her deceased lover Paul Hervieu.

Distinctions

Claude Ferval received two prizes from the Académie Française * 1934, the Academy Prize for ''Rousseau and Women'' (3,000 francs) * 1903, the

Montyon Prize The Montyon Prize () is a series of prizes awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences and the Académie française. They are endowed by the French benefactor Baron de Montyon. History Prior to the start of the French Revolution, the B ...

for ''L'autre amour'' (1,000 francs)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferval, Claude 1856 births 1943 deaths French writers French novelists French women novelists Pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century French writers 20th-century French women writers French salon-holders