Clara Fanny Olivier (February 17, 1875,

4th arrondissement of Paris The 4th arrondissement of Paris (''IVe arrondissement'') is one of the twenty Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''quatrième''. Along with the 1 ...

– February 24, 1944), known by her

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 ...

Fanny Clar, was a French journalist and writer, as well as a socialist intellectual (as defined by the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (, SFIO) was a major socialist political party in France which was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the present Socialist Party. The SFIO was founded in 1905 as the French representativ ...

(SFIO). She is also remembered for her commitment to

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

and

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. While her literary work includes novels, poems and plays, Clar primarily wrote stories for children.

Early life

Clara Fanny Olivier was born 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 ...

, February 17, 1875. She was the daughter of two

optician An optician is an individual who fits glasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with acces ...

s living on Avenue Victoria.

Career

In 1904, Clar contributed to ''

Le Libertaire ''Le Libertaire'' ('The Libertarian') is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared ...

'' as "Francine". There she met

Miguel Almereyda Eugène Bonaventure Jean-Baptiste Vigo (known as Miguel Almereyda; 5 January 1883 – 14 August 1917) was a French journalist and activist against militarism. He was first an Anarchism, anarchist and then a socialist. He founded and wrote in the n ...

, the father of

Jean Vigo Jean Vigo (; 26 April 1905 – 5 October 1934) was a French film director who helped establish poetic realism in film in the 1930s. His work influenced French New Wave cinema of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Biography Vigo was born to Emi ...

, with whom she maintained contact. She participated in the (International League for the Rational Education of Childhood), founded by

Francisco Ferrer Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia (; January 14, 1859 – October 13, 1909), widely known as Francisco Ferrer (), was a Spanish radical freethinker, anarchist, and educationist behind a network of secular, private, libertarian schools in and aroun ...

in 1908. Beginning on August 21, 1912, and every week thereafter, in the

antimilitarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

newspaper she wrote a column for women titled "" (Our corner). In November 1913, she worked with

at the newspaper '' Le Bonnet rouge''. Her sentimental

serial novel In literature, a serial is a printing or publishing format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in smaller, sequential instalments. The instalments are also known as ''numbers'', ''parts'', ''fascicul ...

, (The Rose of Jericho) appeared in ''

L'Humanité (; ) is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organisation of the SFIO, ''de facto'', and thereafter of the French Communist Party (PCF), and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, would not exist." History ...

'' from October 6, 1916. In the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

, she collaborated with her son, Jean Célié, writing a number of articles for French socialist newspapers, including , , ''

Le Populaire ''Le Populaire'' is a major independent daily newspaper in Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal ...

'', and ''Le Peuple''. Clar wrote articles for the feminist newspaper '' La Voix des femmes'' (founded in 1917 by

Colette Reynaud Colette Reynaud (1872–1965) was a French feminist, socialist and pacifist journalist. In 1917, she was the co-founder and director of the weekly newspaper '' La Voix des femmes'' (Women's voice). Career Together with Louise Bodin, Reynaud foun ...

and

Louise Bodin Louise Bodin (1877 – 3 February 1929) was a French feminist and journalist who became a member of the steering committee of the French Communist Party. Early years Louise Charlotte Bodin was born in 1877. Her father was a communard, but otherw ...

) when it was relaunched in October 1919. In 1920, she was accused of

defeatism Defeatism is the acceptance of defeat without struggle, often with negative connotations. It can be linked to pessimism in psychology, and may sometimes be used synonymously with fatalism or determinism. In politics, defeatism is used for one's p ...

and demoralization by Louis Marchand in his book for her writings of 1915 (1 June 1915, 2 June 1915, 10 June 1915, 13 August 1915, 8 December 1915, and others). In 1924,

Madeleine Vernet Madeleine Vernet (3 September 1878 – 5 October 1949) was a French teacher, writer, libertarian and pacifist. She attacked abuses in the state system of foster homes, where children were often used for their labor. In 1906 she founded ''l'Avenir ...

, Éliane Larivière, Fanny Clar and Marceline Hecquet co-signed an "Open Letter to the Governments" ("Lettre ouverte aux gouvernements") calling for a complete and general amnesty, a rapid evacuation of the Ruhr and the re-establishment of political and commercial relations with Germany. In addition to numerous articles in various newspapers and magazines, Clar wrote novels, poems and plays. She was admitted to 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 ...

in 1924.''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (2014–2024), (1964–2014), (1954–1964), (1953–1954), and (1950–1953), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, ' is one of the three most prominent French news magazines ...

'', 18 March 1974, page 5. In 1932, her articles appeared in ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, ) is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Émile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. Together with '' La Libre Belgique'', it is one of the most popular Francophone newsp ...

'' (arts section), ''L’Ère nouvelle'' (women’s section), , '' Vu'', and ''L’Âge heureux''. Jean Vigo hired Clar for the role of Juliette's mother (uncredited) in the film ''

L'Atalante ''L'Atalante'', also released as ''Le Chaland qui passe'' ("The Passing Barge"), is a 1934 French film written and directed by Jean Vigo, and starring Jean Dasté, Dita Parlo and Michel Simon. After the difficult release of his controversial sho ...

'' in 1934, and she went on to promote the movie.

Personal life

Clar married Émile Célié. They had a son, Jean (born February 21, 1897), and lived at 70 rue des Batignolles. She later lived with the sculptor and painter Raphaël Diligent (1884-1964) who illustrated several of her books. Fanny Clar died on February 24, 1944. Her grandson, François Clar (1931-2011), was a painter.

Selected works

* ''Céline petite bourgeoise'', 1919. * ''Les Jacques'', 1926. * ''Les trois souhaits de Babette'', Éditions de la jeunesse. Monthly publications. January 1928, no. 4, editor l'École émancipée. * ''La Ronde de la maison'', current reading book for the preparatory course (1st year), for infant classes and nursery schools, Éditions Montaigne, 1928. * ''Vitivit et sa nichée: histoire d'une famille de pinsons'' with

Lucien Descaves Lucien Descaves (; 16 March 1861 – 6 September 1949) was a French novelist. Selected works * ''Le Calvaire de Héloïse Pajadou'' (1883) 'Héloïse Pajadou's Calvary.'' Sunny Lou Publishing , 2021 Further reading * * External link ...

, Éditions de la Rose Rouge, 1931. * ''La Colombe blessée'', 1932. * ''L'enfant sans larmes'', Éditions Administration 39-41, Passage Choiseul, 1932. * ''L'Appel de l'homme de l'usine, du chantier, manifeste'' with Cresson, Diligent, and Flament, 1932. * ''Sans rimes... non sans raisons'', Éditions de la Rose rouge, 1935. (booklet of poems) * ''L'île aux épouvantails'', Éditions E.S.I., 24, rue Racine, 1935. * ''Nous allons jouer'', Children's Theater dedicated to adults. Drawing by R. Diligent, impr. Joe. Vermault, 1935. * ''Dix-sept et un'', illustrations by Diligent, 1938. * ''Le jardin des mille soucis'', 1939 (poems). * ''Les Mains enchantées'', illustrations by Diligent and Jean Clar, Éditions de l'Ecureuil, 1924, 1939,1946, 1959. * ''La Maison des sept compagnons'' avec Albert Bernet, 1947.

Notes

References

Sources

* Birnbaum, Paula J., ''Women Artists in Interwar France: Framing Femininities'', Farnham, Ashgate Press, 2011. * Cooper, Clarissa Burnham, ''Women poets of the twentieth century in France'', King's Crown Press, 1943. * Embs, Jean-Marie; Mellot, Philippe; Carcopino, Jean-Jérôme (photographer), ''Le siècle d'or du livre d'enfants et de jeunesse: 1840-1940'', Paris, éditions de l'Amateur, 2000. (in French) * Gomes, P. E. S., ''Jean Vigo'', Paris, Seuil, 1957 (édition consultée : Ramsay, 1988). (in French) * Icher, François, ''Les compagnonnages en France au XXe siècle : histoire, mémoire, représentations'', éditions Grancher, 1999. (in French) * Legendre, Tony, ''Expériences de vie communautaire anarchiste en France :

La Clairière de Vaux LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

, Aisne, 1902-1907 et la colonie naturiste et végétalienne de Bascon, Aisne, 1911-1951'', Saint-Georges-d'Oléron, Les éditions libertaires, 2006. (in French) * MacLeod, Catriona; Plesch, Véronique; Schoell-Glass, Charlotte, ''Elective Affinities : Testing Word and Image Relationships'', Amsterdam, Rodopi, 2009. * Bianco, René, ''100 ans de presse anarchiste''
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(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Clar, Fanny 1875 births 1944 deaths Writers from Paris 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French women journalists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French poets French children's writers 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights French women journalists French women novelists French women poets French women children's writers French women dramatists and playwrights Anarcho-pacifists Pacifist feminists French anarchists Anarchism and education 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers