Elula Perrin (1929 – 22 May 2003) was a French writer and a prominent figure in Paris’s lesbian nightlife scene.

Biography

Elula Perrin was born in

Hanoi Hanoi ( ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Vietnam, second-most populous city of Vietnam. The name "Hanoi" translates to "inside the river" (Hanoi is bordered by the Red River (Asia), Red and Black River (Asia), Black Riv ...

, in what was then

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China), officially known as the Indochinese Union and after 1941 as the Indochinese Federation, was a group of French dependent territories in Southeast Asia from 1887 to 1954. It was initial ...

, in 1929. In 1946, at the age of 17, she moved to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. She earned a degree in law, married and moved to

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

with her husband, where she discovered her

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

. In 1969, together with Aimée Mori, she opened Le Katmandou, a nightclub that became a focal point of lesbian nightlife 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 ...

. It closed 20 years later, in 1989. She gained public attention in 1977 with her autobiographical book ''Les Femmes préfèrent les femmes'' ("Women Prefer Women") and appeared on television programs to speak openly about her attraction to women. She went on to write several more works exploring lesbian themes, among them ''Tant qu'il y aura des femmes'' ("As Long as There Are Women") and ''Mousson de femmes'' ("Monsoon of Women"). In the late 1980s, she opened another nightclub, Le Privilège, located near the Théâtre Le Palace. She also co-wrote two detective novels with author Hélène de Monferrand. In 2000, Catherine Gonnard directed a documentary about her life titled '' Elula, les hommes on s'en fout'' ("Elula, We Don’t Give a Damn About Men"). Perrin died in

on 22 May 2003, following a long illness. She was 74 years old.

Works

* '' Les Femmes préfèrent les femmes'', Ramsay, Paris, 1977; J'ai lu, 1985; Double interligne, Paris, 1997; La Cerisaie, Paris, 2002. * ''Tant qu'il y aura des femmes'', Ramsay, Paris, 1978. * ''Alice au pays des femmes'', Ramsay, Paris, 1980. * ''Mousson de femmes'', Ramsay, Paris, 1985; La Cerisaie, Paris, 2003. (Preface by

Josée Dayan Josée Dayan (born 6 October 1943 in Toulouse, France) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. Life Dayan grew up in Algiers, Algeria, where her father Albert Dagnant, who came from a Jewish family, worked as a television direc ...

) * ''Pour l'amour des femmes'', Ramsay, Paris, 1995. * ''L’Eurasienne'', Editions Osmondes, Paris, 1997. * ''Va y avoir mistral, elles ne sont pas toutes gentilles'', Double interligne, Paris, 1999. * ''Bulles et noctambules: histoire de la nuit au féminin'', Double interligne, Paris, 2000. * ''Révolte des amours mortes (elle préfère toujours les femmes)'', La Cerisaie, Paris, 2003. *''Un amour, deux femmes'', with Louna Borca. La Cerisaie, Paris, 2004.

References

1929 births 2003 deaths French-language literature of Vietnam French people of Vietnamese descent French lesbian writers French LGBTQ rights activists Vietnamese writers French women writers 20th-century French women Vietnamese lesbians 20th-century French LGBTQ people 20th-century Vietnamese LGBTQ people {{Vietnam-writer-stub