Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her 1944 novella '' Gigi'', which was the basis for the 1958 film and the 1973 stage production of the same name. Her short story collection ''

The Tendrils of the Vine ''The Tendrils of the Vine'' () is a collection of 20 novellas by Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artis ...

'' is also famous in France.

Early life

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born on 28 January 1873 in the village of

Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye () is a commune in the north-central French department of Yonne. It is located in an area historically known as Puisaye. In the early 1970s the Château de la Folie, north of the village (halfway to Mézilles) was home ...

in the department of

Yonne Yonne (, in Burgundian: ''Ghienne'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight con ...

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

. Her father, Captain Jules-Joseph Colette (1829–1905) was a war hero. He was a

Zouave The Zouaves () were a class of light infantry regiments of the French Army and other units modelled on it, which served between 1830 and 1962, and served in French North Africa. The zouaves were among the most decorated units of the French Army ...

of the Saint-Cyr military school, who had lost a leg at

Melegnano Melegnano (formerly Marignano; ) is a ''comune'' and town in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy. The town lies southeast of the city of Milan. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on 26 August 1 ...

in the

Second Italian War of Independence The Second Italian War of Independence, also called the Sardinian War, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Franco-Austrian War, or the Italian War of 1859 (Italian: ''Seconda guerra d'indipendenza italiana''; German: ''Sardinischer Krieg''; French: ...

. He was awarded a post as tax collector in the village of

where his children were born. His wife, Adèle Eugénie Sidonie, ''née'' Landoy (1835–1912) was nicknamed ''Sido''. Colette's great-grandfather, Robert Landois, was a wealthy Martinican mulatto, who settled in Charleville in 1787. In an arranged first marriage to Jules Robineau Duclos, Colette's mother had two children: Juliette (1860–1908) and Achille (1863–1913). After she remarried Captain Colette, she had two other children: Leopold (1866–1940) and Sidonie-Gabrielle. Colette attended a public school from the ages of 6 to 17. The family was initially well off, but poor financial management substantially reduced their income.

Career

In 1893, Colette married

Henry Gauthier-Villars Henry Gauthier-Villars (8 August 1859 – 12 January 1931), known by the pen name Willy , was a French '' fin de siècle'' writer and music critic who is today mostly known as the first husband of Colette. Other pseudonyms used by Gauthiers-Villa ...

(1859–1931), an author and publisher 14 years her senior, who used the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

"Willy". Her first four novels – the four Claudine stories: ''Claudine à l'école'' (1900), ''Claudine à Paris'' (1901), ''Claudine en ménage'' (1902), and ''Claudine s'en va'' (1903) – appeared under his name. (The four are published in English as ''Claudine at School'', ''Claudine in Paris'', ''Claudine Married'', and ''Claudine and Annie''.) Jacques Humbert - Colette

The novels chart the coming of age and young adulthood of their titular heroine, Claudine, from an unconventional 15-year old in a Burgundian village to a

doyenne A doyen or doyenne (from the French language, French word ''wikt:doyen#French, doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning ...

of the literary salons of turn-of-the-century Paris. The story they tell is semi-autobiographical, although Claudine, unlike Colette, is motherless. The marriage to Gauthier-Villars allowed Colette to devote her time to writing. She later said she would never have become a writer if it had not been for Willy. Fourteen years older than his wife and one of the most notorious

libertine A libertine is a person questioning and challenging most moral principles, such as responsibility or Human sexual activity, sexual restraints, and will often declare these traits as unnecessary, undesirable or evil. A libertine is especially som ...

s in Paris, he introduced his wife into avant-garde intellectual and artistic circles and encouraged her

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

dalliances. And it was he who chose the titillating subject matter of the Claudine novels: "the secondary myth of

Sappho Sappho (; ''Sapphṓ'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; ) was an Ancient Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her lyric poetry, written to be sung while accompanied by music. In ancient times, Sapph ...

... the girls' school or convent ruled by a seductive female teacher." Willy "locked her

olette Olette (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. Its village of Évol is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Geography Olette is located in th ...

in her room until she produced enough pages to suit him."

Post divorce

Colette and Willy separated in 1906, although their divorce was not final until 1910. Colette had no access to the sizable earnings of the Claudine books – the copyright belonged to Willy – and until 1912 she conducted a stage career in music halls across France, sometimes playing Claudine in sketches from her own novels, earning barely enough to survive and often hungry and ill. To make ends meet, she turned more seriously to journalism in the 1910s. Around this time she also became an avid amateur photographer. This period of her life is recalled in '' La Vagabonde'' (1910), which deals with women's independence in a male society, a theme to which she would regularly return in future works. During these years she embarked on a series of relationships with other women, notably with

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

and with Mathilde de Morny, the Marquise de Belbeuf ("Max"), with whom she sometimes shared the stage. On 3 January 1907, an onstage kiss between Max and Colette in a pantomime entitled "Rêve d'Égypte" caused a near-riot, and as a result, they were no longer able to live together openly, although their relationship continued for another five years. In 1912, Colette married

Henry de Jouvenel Henry de Jouvenel des Ursins (; 5 April 1876 – 5 October 1935) was a French journalist and statesman.

, the editor of '' Le Matin''. A daughter,

Colette de Jouvenel Colette de Jouvenel (), also known as Bel-Gazou, (; 3 July 19131981) was the French producer of an animated film. She was the daughter of French writer Colette and her second husband, Henri de Jouvenel. She was the half-sister of and Bertrand d ...

, nicknamed ''Bel-Gazou'', was born to them in 1913.

1920s and 1930s

In 1920, Colette published ''

Chéri Cheri or Chéri may refer to: People Given name *Cheri (given name) * Cheri Ben-Iesau, American painter, muralist, author * Cheri Blauwet (born 1980), American wheelchair racer * Cheri Dennis (born 1979), American singer * Cheri DiNovo (born 1 ...

'', portraying love between an older woman and a much younger man. Chéri is the lover of Léa, a wealthy

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

; Léa is devastated when Chéri marries a girl his own age and delighted when he returns to her, but after one final night together, she sends him away again. Colette's marriage to Jouvenel ended in divorce in 1924, due partly to his infidelities and partly to her affair with her 16-year-old stepson,

Bertrand de Jouvenel Bertrand de Jouvenel des Ursins (; 31 October 1903 – 1 March 1987) was a French philosopher, political economist, and futurist. He taught at the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, the University of Manchester, Yale University, ...

. In 1925, she met Maurice Goudeket, who became her final husband; the couple stayed together until her death. Colette was by then an established writer (''The Vagabond'' had received three votes for the prestigious ''

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

''). The decades of the 1920s and 1930s were her most productive and innovative period. Set mostly in Burgundy or Paris during the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

, her work focused on married life and sexuality. It was frequently quasi-autobiographical: ''Chéri'' (1920) and '' Le Blé en Herbe'' (1923) both deal with love between an aging woman and a very young man, a situation reflecting her relationship with Bertrand de Jouvenel and with her third husband, Goudeket, who was 16 years her junior. ''La Naissance du Jour'' (1928) is her explicit criticism of the conventional lives of women, expressed through a meditation on age and the renunciation of love by the character of her mother, Sido. By this time Colette was frequently acclaimed as France's greatest woman writer. "It... has no plot, and yet tells of three lives all that should be known", wrote

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 ...

of ''Sido'' (1929). "Once again, and at greater length than usual, she has been hailed for her genius, humanities and perfect prose by those literary journals which years ago... lifted nothing at all in her direction except the finger of scorn." During the 1920s she was associated with the Jewish-Algerian writer

Elissa Rhaïs Elissa Rhaïs (), born Rosine Boumendil (12 December 1876 – 18 August 1940) was a History of the Jews in Algeria, Jewish-Algerian writer, who adopted the persona of a Muslim woman who had escaped from a harem to further her literary career. He ...

, who adopted a Muslim persona to market her novels.

Last years, 1940–1954

Colette was 67 years old when France was occupied by the Germans. She remained in Paris, in her apartment in the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...

. Her husband Maurice Goudeket, who was Jewish, was arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

in December 1941, and although he was released after seven weeks through the intervention of the French wife of the German ambassador, Colette lived through the rest of the war years with the anxiety of a possible second arrest. During the Occupation she produced two volumes of memoirs, ''Journal à Rebours'' (1941) and ''De ma Fenêtre'' (1942); the two were issued in English in 1975 as ''Looking Backwards''. She wrote lifestyle articles for several pro-Nazi newspapers. These, and her novel ''Julie de Carneilhan'' (1941), contain many anti-Semitic slurs. In 1944, Colette published what became her most famous work, '' Gigi'', which tells the story of the 16-year-old Gilberte ("Gigi") Alvar. Born into a family of demimondaines, Gigi is trained as a courtesan to captivate a wealthy lover but defies the tradition by marrying him instead. In 1949 it was made into a French film starring

Danièle Delorme Gabrielle Danièle Marguerite Andrée Girard (9 October 1926 – 17 October 2015), known by her stage name Danièle Delorme (), was a French actress and film producer, famous for her roles in films directed by Marc Allégret, Julien Duvivier an ...

and

Gaby Morlay Gaby Morlay (born Blanche Pauline Fumoleau; 8 June 1893 – 4 July 1964) was a film actress from France.

, then in 1951 adapted for the stage with the then-unknown

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Kathleen Hepburn ( Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress. Recognised as a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend from the Classical Holly ...

(picked by Colette personally) in the title role. The 1958 Hollywood musical movie, starring

Leslie Caron Leslie Claire Margaret Caron (; born 1 July 1931) is a French and American actress and dancer. She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards. Caron b ...

and

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's '' The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Let ...

, with a screenplay by

Alan Jay Lerner Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre bot ...

and a score by Lerner and

Frederick Loewe Frederick Loewe ( ; born Friedrich "Fritz" Löwe, ; June 10, 1901 – February 14, 1988

, won the

Academy Award for Best Picture The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards (also known as Oscars) presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film a ...

. In the postwar years, Colette became a famous public figure. She had become crippled by arthritis and was cared for by Goudeket, who supervised the preparation of her ''Œuvres Complètes'' (1948–1950). She continued to write during those years and published ''L'Etoile Vesper'' (1946) and ''Le Fanal Bleu'' (1949), in which she reflected on the problems of a writer whose inspiration is primarily autobiographical. She was nominated by

Claude Farrère Claude Farrère (), pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone (; 27 April 1876, in Lyon – 21 June 1957, in Paris), was a French Navy officer and writer. Many of his novels are based in exotic locations such as Istanbul, Saigon, or Nagasaki. On ...

for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

in 1948.

Journalism

Colette's first pieces of journalism (1895–1900) were written in collaboration with her husband, Gauthier-Villars—music reviews for ''La Cocarde'', a daily founded by Maurice Barres and a series of pieces for La Fronde. Following her divorce from Gauthier-Villars in 1910, she wrote independently for a wide variety of publications, gaining considerable renown for her articles covering social trends, theater, fashion, and film, as well as crime reporting. In December 1910, Colette agreed to write a regular column in the Paris daily, Le Matin—at first under a pseudonym, then as "Colette Willy." One of her editors was Henry de Jouvenel, whom she married in 1912. By 1912, Colette had taught herself to be a reporter: "You have to see and not invent, you have to touch, not imagine .. because, when you see the sheets t a crime scenedrenched in fresh blood, they are a color you could never invent." In 1914, Colette was named Le Matin's literary editor. Colette's separation from Jouvenel in 1923 forced her to sever ties with Le Matin. Over the next three decades her articles appeared in over two dozen publications, including

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

, and

Paris-Soir ''Paris-soir'' () was a French newspaper founded in 1923 and published until 1944 when it was banned for having been a collaborationist newspaper during the war. Publication history The first issue of ''Paris-soir'' came out on 4 October 1923 ...

. During the

German Occupation of France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

, Colette continued contributing to daily and weekly publications, a number of them collaborationist and pro-Nazi, including

Le Petit Parisien ''Le Petit Parisien'' () was a prominent France, French newspaper during the Third French Republic, Third Republic. It was published between 1876 and 1944, and its circulation was over two million after the First World War. Publishing Despite its ...

, which became pro-Vichy after January 1941, and

La Gerbe ''La Gerbe'' (, ''The Sheaf'') was a weekly newspaper of the French collaboration with Nazi Germany during World War II that appeared in Paris from July 1940 till August 1944. Its political-literary line was modeled after ''Candide'' and '' Grin ...

, a pro-Nazi weekly. Though her articles were not political in nature, Colette was sharply criticized at the time for lending her prestige to these publications and implicitly accommodating herself to the Vichy regime. Her 26 November 1942 article, "Ma Bourgogne Pauvre" ("My Poor Burgundy"), has been singled out by some historians as tacitly accepting some ultra-nationalist goals that hardline Vichyist writers espoused. After 1945, her journalism was sporadic, and her final pieces were more personal essays than reported stories. Over the course of her writing career, Colette published over 1200 articles for newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Death and legacy

Upon her death, on 3 August 1954, she was refused a religious funeral by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on account of her

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

s, but given a

state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...

, the first French woman of letters to be granted the honour, and interred in Père-Lachaise cemetery. Colette was elected to the Belgian Royal Academy (1935), the

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (, ''Goncourt Literary Society''), usually called the Académie Goncourt (, Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1882 by the French writer and publisher Edmo ...

(1945, and President in 1949), and a Chevalier (1920) and Grand Officer (1953) of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. Colette's numerous biographers have proposed widely differing interpretations of her life and work over the decades. Initially considered a limited if talented novelist (despite the outspoken admiration in her lifetime of figures such as

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

and

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant of ...

), she has been increasingly recognised as an important voice in women's writing. Before Colette's death,

Katherine Anne Porter Katherine Anne Porter (May 15, 1890 – September 18, 1980) was an American journalist, essayist, short story writer, novelist, poet, and political activist. Her 1962 novel '' Ship of Fools'' was the best-selling novel in the United States that y ...

wrote in ''The New York Times'' that Colette "is the greatest living French writer of fiction; and that she was while Gide and Proust still lived." Singer-songwriter

Rosanne Cash Rosanne Cash (born May 24, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of country musician Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Cash. Although Cash is often classified as a country artist, her music draws f ...

paid tribute to the writer in the song, "The Summer I Read Colette", on her 1996 album '' 10 Song Demo''.

Truman Capote Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...

wrote an essay in 1970 about meeting her, called "The White Rose". It tells how, when she saw him admiring a paperweight on a table (the "white rose" of the title), she insisted he take it; Capote initially refused the gift, but “…when I protested that I couldn’t accept as a present something she so clearly adored,

he replied He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

'My dear, really there is no point in giving a gift unless one also treasures it oneself.'” ''

Womanhouse ''Womanhouse'' (January 30 – February 28, 1972) was a feminist art installation and performance space organized by Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) Feminist Art Program, and was the ...

'' (30 January – 28 February 1972) was a

feminist art The feminist art movement refers to the efforts and accomplishments of feminists internationally to produce feminist art, art that reflects women's lives and experiences, as well as to change the foundation for the production and perception of co ...

installation and performance space organized by

Judy Chicago Judy Chicago (born Judith Sylvia Cohen; July 20, 1939) is an American feminist artist, art educator, and writer known for her large collaborative art installation pieces about birth and creation images, which examine the role of women in history ...

and

Miriam Schapiro Miriam Schapiro (also known as Mimi) (November 15, 1923 – June 20, 2015) was a Canadian-born artist based in the United States. She was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and a pioneer of feminist art. She was also considered a leader of the Pa ...

, co-founders of the California Institute of the Arts (

CalArts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both the ...

)

Feminist Art Program The Feminist Art Program (FAP) was a college-level art program for women developed in 1970 by artist Judy Chicago and continued by artists Rita Yokoi, Miriam Schapiro, and others. The FAP began at Fresno State College, as a way to address gender in ...

, and was the first public exhibition of art centered upon female empowerment. One of the rooms in it, Leah's Room by

Karen LeCocq Karen LeCocq is an American artist. She is a nationally-known sculptor whose work combines organic materials and found objects. Biography LeCocq was born in 1949 in Santa Rosa, California. She attended Fresno State College and was a student of Jud ...

and

Nancy Youdelman Nancy Youdelman (born 1948 in New York City) is a mixed media sculptor who lives and works in Clovis, California. She also taught art at California State University, Fresno from 1999 until her retirement in 2013. "Since the early 1970s Youdelman ...

, was based on Colette’s ''

''. Karen and Nancy borrowed an antique dressing table and rug, made lace curtains and covered the bed with satin and lace to create the effect of a boudoir. They filled the closet with old-looking clothes and veiled hats, and wallpapered the walls to add a feeling of nostalgia. LeCocq sat at the dressing table dressed in a nineteenth-century-style costume as Léa, studiously applying make-up over and over and then removing it, replicating the character’s attempts to save her fading beauty. "Lucette Stranded on the Island" by

Julia Holter Julia Shammas Holter (born December 18, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist, and academic, based in Los Angeles. Her work has received critical acclaim and incorporates elements of art pop, chamber pop, baroq ...

, from her 2015 album '' Have You in My Wilderness'', is based on a minor character from Colette's short story ''Chance Acquaintances''. In the 1991 film '' Becoming Colette'', Colette is played by the French actress

Mathilda May Mathilda May (born Karin Haïm; 8 February 1965) is a French film actress and director. Her most well-known roles include portraying Space Girl in '' Lifeforce'' (1985) and Jeanne Gardella in '' Toutes peines confondues'' (1992). Her father is ...

. In the 2018 film ''

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

'', the title character is played by

Keira Knightley Keira Christina Knightley ( ; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in independent films and Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters, particularly Historical drama, period dramas, she has received List of awards and no ...

. Both films focus on Colette's life in her twenties, her marriage to her first husband, and the publication of her first novels under his name.

Notable works

*''Claudine à l'école'' (1900, translated as ''

Claudine at School ''Claudine at School'' () is a 1900 novel by the French writer Colette. The narrative recounts the final year of secondary school of 15-year-old Claudine, her brazen confrontations with her headmistress, Mlle Sergent, and her fellow students. It ...

'') *''Claudine à Paris'' (1901, translated as ''Claudine in Paris'') *''Claudine en ménage'' (1902, translated as ''Claudine Married'') *''Claudine s'en va'' (1903, translated as ''Claudine and Annie'') *''Dialogues de bêtes'' (1904) *''La Retraite sentimentale'' (1907) *'' Les Vrilles de la vigne'' (1908) *'' La Vagabonde'' (1910) *''L'Envers du music hall'' (1913) *''L'Entrave'' (1913, translated as ''The Shackle'') *''La Paix chez les bêtes'' (1916) *''

L'Enfant et les sortilèges ''L'enfant et les sortilèges: Fantaisie lyrique en deux parties'' (''The Child and the Spells: A Lyric Fantasy in Two Parts'') is an opera in one act, with music by Maurice Ravel to a libretto by Colette. It is Ravel's second opera, his first b ...

'' (1917,

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

opera

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

) *''

Mitsou Mitsou Annie Marie Gélinas (born September 1, 1970, in Loretteville, Quebec) is a Canadian pop singer, businesswoman, television and radio host, and actress. She is credited as Mitsou Gélinas when acting, but records simply as Mitsou (the Fre ...

'' (1919) *''

'' (1920) *''La Maison de Claudine'' (1922, translated as ''The House of Claudine'') *''L'Autre Femme'' (1922, translated as ''The Other Woman'') *'' Le Blé en herbe'' (1923, translated as ''Ripening Seed'') *'' La Fin de Chéri'' (1926, translated as ''The Last of Chéri'' or ''The End of Chéri'') *'' La Naissance du jour'' (1928, translated as ''Break of Day'') *''Sido'' (1929) *''La Seconde'' (1929, translated as ''The Other One'') *''Le Pur et l'Impur'' (1932, translated as '' The Pure and the Impure'') *''

La Chatte ''La Chatte'' is a short novel by French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. Released in 1933, the book tells of a love triangle involving Camille Malmert, her husband Alain Amparat and his Chartreux The Chartreux is a rare breed of cat from F ...

'' (1933) *'' Duo'' (1934) *'' Julie de Carneilhan'' (1941) *''Le Képi'' (1943) *'' Gigi'' (1944) *''Paris de ma fenêtre'' (1944) *''L'Étoile Vesper'' (1946) *''Le Fanal Bleu'' (1949, translated as ''The Blue Lantern'') *''Paradis terrestre'', with photographs by

Izis Bidermanas Israëlis Bidermanas (17 January 1911 – 16 May 1980 in Paris), who worked under the name of Izis, was a Lithuanian-Jewish photographer who worked in France and is best known for his photographs of French circuses and of Paris. Biography Born in ...

(1953) Source:

Filmography

* ''La Vagabonde'', directed by

Solange Térac Solange Térac (13 February 1907 – 14 September 1993) was a French screenwriter and film director.Kedward & Wood p.116 Primarily a writer, she directed three films including ''Koenigsmark (1953 film), Koenigsmark'' (1953). Selected filmography ...

(France, 1932, based on the novel '' The Vagabond'') * ''Claudine à l'école'', directed by

Serge de Poligny Serge de Poligny (1903–1983) was a French screenwriter and film director. Career Serge de Poligny was born in Paris in 1903. He studied art at the Beaux-Arts de Paris, École des Beaux-Arts in the class of the painter Maurice Denis. In 1925 ...

(France, 1937, based on the novel ''

'') * '' Gigi'', directed by

Jacqueline Audry Jacqueline Audry (25 September 1908 – 22 June 1977) was a French film director who began making films in post-World War II France and specialised in literary adaptations. She was the first commercially successful female director of post-war ...

(France, 1949, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * '' Julie de Carneilhan'', directed by

Jacques Manuel Jacques Manuel (1897–1968) was a French costume designer and occasional film editor and director.Goble p.784 Selected filmography Costume designer * '' La Route impériale'' (1935) * ''Woman of Malacca'' (1937) * ''The Citadel of Silence'' (1937 ...

(France, 1950, based on the novel '' Julie de Carneilhan'') * ''

Minne (film) ''Minne'' (French: ''Minne, l'ingénue libertine'') is a 1950 French comedy film directed by Jacqueline Audry and starring Danièle Delorme, Frank Villard and Roland Armontel.Rège p.822 It is based on the 1904 novel ''Minne'' by Colette. It was ...

'', directed by

(France, 1950, based on the novel ''L'Ingénue libertine'') * ''

'', directed by Pierre Billon (France, 1950, based on the novel ''

'') * '' Le Blé en herbe'', directed by

Claude Autant-Lara Claude Autant-Lara (; 5 August 1901 – 5 February 2000) was a French film director, screenwriter, set designer and costume designer who worked in films for over 50 years. He made films characterised by bourgeois Realism (arts), realism, anti- ...

(France, 1954, based on the novel '' Green Wheat'') * ''

'', directed by

(France, 1956, based on the novella ''

'') * ''

NBC Matinee Theater ''Matinee Theater'' is an American anthology series that aired on NBC during the Golden Age of Television, from October 31, 1955, to June 27, 1958. Its name is often seen as ''Matinee Theatre''. The series, which ran daily from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ...

: The Vagabond'' (1958, TV series episode, based on the novel '' The Vagabond'') * '' Gigi'', directed by

Vincente Minnelli Vincente Minnelli (; born Lester Anthony Minnelli; February 28, 1903 – July 25, 1986) was an American Theatre director, stage director and film director. From a career spanning over half a century, he is best known for his sophisticated innovat ...

(1958, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''Chéri'', directed by François Chatel (France, 1962, TV film, based on the novel ''

'') * ''The Gentle Libertine or How Young Girls Grow Wise'', directed by Robert Kitts (UK, 1967, TV film, based on the novel ''L'Ingénue libertine'') * ''Away from It All: The Ripening Seed'', directed by

Mischa Scorer Mischa Scorer (1939-2023) was a British documentary film-maker. Biography Mischa Scorer was educated at Westminster School and Jesus College, Oxford. He worked as producer for BBC Television from 1965 to 1979, first in the Religious Broadcastin ...

(UK, 1973, TV series episode, based on the novel '' Green Wheat'') * ''Chéri'', directed by

Claude Whatham Claude Whatham (7 December 1927 – 4 January 2008) was an English film and television director, mainly known for his work on dramas. Early life In 1940, Whatham, a teenage evacuee art student, had been commissioned to paint fairytale pictures ...

(UK, 1973, TV miniseries, based on the novel ''

'') * ''La Seconde'', directed by

Hervé Bromberger Hervé Bromberger (11 November 1918 – 25 November 1993) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed 16 films between 1951 and 1982. His 1951 film '' Paris Vice Squad'' was entered into the 1951 Cannes Film Festival. Selected fil ...

(France, 1973, TV film, based on the novel ''La Seconde'') * ''Claudine'', directed by

Édouard Molinaro Édouard Molinaro (13 May 1928 – 7 December 2013) was a French film director and screenwriter. Biography He was born in Bordeaux, Gironde. He is best known for his comedies with Louis de Funès (''Oscar (1967 film), Oscar'', ''Hibernatus''), ...

(France, 1978, TV miniseries, based on the '' Claudine'' novels) * ''La Naissance du jour'', directed by

Jacques Demy Jacques Demy (; 5 June 1931 – 27 October 1990) was a French director, screenwriter and lyricist. He appeared at the height of the French New Wave alongside contemporaries like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. Demy's films are celebrated ...

(France, 1980, TV film, based on the novel '' Break of Day'') * ''Emmenez-moi au théâtre: Chéri'', directed by

Yves-André Hubert Yves-André Hubert (Paris, 7 August 1927 - Le Pecq, 14 June 2021) is a French television film director, theatre '' metteur en scène''and actor. He received a Sept d'or award in 1988 for '' L'Affaire Marie Besnard''. Filmography * 1961 : ''Yo ...

(France, 1984, TV series episode, based on the novel ''

'') * ''Gigi'', directed by Jeannette Hubert (France, 1987, TV film, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''Julie de Carneilhan'', directed by

Christopher Frank Christopher Frank (5 December 1942, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK – 20 November 1993, Paris, France) was a British-born French writer, screenwriter, and film director. He won the 1972 Prix Renaudot for his novel ''La Nuit américaine'' th ...

(France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''Julie de Carneilhan'') * ''Le Blé en herbe'', directed by Serge Meynard (France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel '' Green Wheat'') * ''La Seconde'', directed by

(France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel ''La Seconde'') * ''Duo'', directed by

Claude Santelli Claude Santelli (17 June 1923 – 14 December 2001) was a French film director and screenwriter. He directed 25 films between 1968 and 1996. Selected filmography * ''Histoire vraie ''Histoire vraie'' is a 1973 French film directed by C ...

(France, 1990, TV film, based on the novel '' Duo'') * ''Bella Vista'', directed by Alfredo Arias (France, 1992, TV film, based on the short story ''Bella-Vista'') * ''Mademoiselle Gigi'', directed by

Caroline Huppert Caroline Huppert (born 28 October 1950) is a French film director and screenwriter. She is the sister of French actress Isabelle Huppert and has directed more than 30 films since 1977. Early life and career Huppert was born in the 16th arrondis ...

(France, 2006, TV film, based on the novella '' Gigi'') * ''

'', directed by

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

(UK, 2009, based on the novel ''

'')

Screenwriter

* 1934: ''

Lake of Ladies A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...

'' (dir.

Marc Allégret Marc Allégret (22 December 1900 – 3 November 1973) was a French screenwriter, photographer and film director. Biography Born in Basel, Basel-Stadt, Switzerland, he was the elder brother of Yves Allégret. Marc was educated to be a lawyer in ...

) * 1935: ''

Divine Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a singl ...

'' (dir.

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

)

Films about Colette

*''Colette'', directed by

Yannick Bellon Marie-Annick Bellon, usually known as Yannick Bellon, (6 April 1924 – 2 June 2019), was a French film director, editor and screenwriter. Initially known for her documentary film, documentary work, in 1972 she made her first feature film, ''Quelq ...

(France, 1952, short documentary) *'' Becoming Colette'', directed by

Danny Huston Daniel Sallis Huston (born May 14, 1962) is an American-British actor, director and screenwriter. A member of the Huston family of filmmakers, he is the son of director John Huston and half-brother of actress Anjelica Huston. He is known for ...

(1991), with

as Colette *''

Colette, une femme libre ''Colette, une femme libre'' is a 2004 Biographical film, Biographical miniseries which explored the life of Colette. Cast * Marie Trintignant as Colette * Wladimir Yordanoff as Henry Gauthier-Villars * Lambert Wilson as Henry de Jouvenel * Barb ...

'', directed by

Nadine Trintignant Nadine Trintignant ( Marquand; born 11 November 1934) is a French filmmaker and novelist. She is known for making films that surround the topic of family and relationships, such as ''Ça n'arrive qu'aux autres'' and ''Next Summer (film), L'été ...

(France, 2004, TV film), with

Marie Trintignant Marie Trintignant (; 21 January 1962 – 1 August 2003) was a French film and stage actress. She appeared in over 30 movies during her 36-year career. Her family was deeply involved in France's film industry, as her father was an actor and her mo ...

as Colette *''

'', directed by

Wash Westmoreland Paul "Wash" Westmoreland (born 4 March 1966), previously known professionally as Wash West, is a British director who has worked in television, documentaries, and independent films. He frequently collaborated with his husband, writer-director R ...

(2018), with

as Colette *''Colette, l'insoumise'', directed by Cécile Denjean (France, 2018, documentary)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * *Hennigfeld, Ursula/ Hörner, Fernand/ Link-Heer, Ursula (2006). ''Literarische Gendertheorie. Eros und Gesellschaft bei Proust und Colette''. Bielefeld, Transcript. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Centre d'études Colette
* * *
Portrait of Colette
by

Irving Penn Irving Penn (June 16, 1917October 7, 2009) was an American photographer known for his fashion photography, portraits, and still lifes. Penn's career included work at ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' magazine, and independent advertising work for clie ...

commentary on portrait

Colette and her Cats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colette, Sidonie-Gabrielle 1873 births 1954 deaths People from Yonne 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 19th-century French women writers 20th-century French women writers 19th-century French LGBTQ people 20th-century French LGBTQ people Bisexual women writers Bisexual memoirists Bisexual novelists Bisexual journalists French bisexual women French bisexual writers French opera librettists French vedettes French women novelists French LGBTQ journalists French LGBTQ novelists Modernist women writers Women opera librettists Writers from Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery

Early life

Career

Post divorce

1920s and 1930s

Last years, 1940–1954

Journalism

Death and legacy

Notable works

Filmography

Screenwriter

Films about Colette

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

External links