Herma Briffault, born Herma Hoyt (1898–1981) was an American
ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a person hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', August 18, 1981.
Life
Herma Hoyt was born in
Reedsville, Ohio
Reedsville is an unincorporated area, unincorporated community in eastern Olive Township, Meigs County, Ohio, Olive Township, Meigs County, Ohio, Meigs County, Ohio, United States. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45772.
It lies along th ...
on May 4, 1898. In the 1920s, she went to live 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 ...
, divorcing her first husband J. Eugene Mullins. In 1931, she married the French-born anthropological writer Robert Briffault, and started a career as a ghost writer. She wrote eighteen books under other people's names, including a 1928 biography of the hotelier
César Ritz
César Ritz, born Cäsar Ritz (23 February 1850 – 26 October 1918), was a Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Hôtel Ritz in Paris and the The Ritz London Hotel, Ritz and Carlton Hotel, London, Ca ...
under the name of his widow, Marie-Louise Ritz.
The pair endured the Nazi occupation of Paris as enemy aliens under house arrest. Robert Briffault died in 1948. Around that time, Briffault began working with
Vilhjalmur Stefansson
Vilhjalmur Stefansson (November 3, 1879 – August 26, 1962) was an Arctic explorer and ethnologist. He was born in Manitoba, Canada.
Early life and education
Stefansson, born William Stephenson, was born at Arnes, Manitoba, Canada, in 1879. ...
to research the history of Russian-American attempts to join
Alaska
Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...
and
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
by
telegraph
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
.Herma Hoyt Briffault papers New York Public Library Archives & manuscripts. She also embarked on her translation career.
Briffault worked as an assistant editor for Las Americas Publishing Company from 1957 to 1969. At the end of her life, she was living in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, where she died at St. Vincent's Hospital on August 13, 1981.
Briffault's papers are held at the library of
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...
.
Works
Translations
* ''Life is Sometimes Like That''. Translated from the French by Jacques Varmel. London: Commodore Press, 1946.
* ''The Illusionist''. Translated from the French ''Le rempart des Béguines'' by
Françoise Mallet-Joris
Françoise Mallet-Joris (6 July 1930 – 13 August 2016), the pen name of Françoise Lilar, was a Belgian author. She was a member of the Prix Femina committee from 1969 to 1971 and was appointed to the ''Académie Goncourt'' from November 1971 ...
. 1952
* ''The sea wall''. Translation of the French ''Barrage contre le Pacifique'' by
Marguerite Duras
Marguerite Germaine Marie Donnadieu (, 4 April 1914 – 3 March 1996), known as Marguerite Duras (), was a French novelist, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, and experimental filmmaker. Her script for the film ''Hiroshima mon amour'' (1959) ea ...
. New York: The New American Library, 1952.
* ''Into the Labyrinth''. Translated from the French ''Le Rempart des béguines'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. London: Secker & Warburg, 1953.
* ''The paradise below the stairs''. Translated from the French ''Le vert paradis'' by
André Brincourt
André Brincourt (8 November 1920, Neuilly-sur-Seine then Seine (department) – 22 March 2016Jean Malaquais. New York: Doubleday, 1954.
* ''The Red Room''. Translated from the French ''Chambre rouge'' by
Françoise Mallet-Joris
Françoise Mallet-Joris (6 July 1930 – 13 August 2016), the pen name of Françoise Lilar, was a Belgian author. She was a member of the Prix Femina committee from 1969 to 1971 and was appointed to the ''Académie Goncourt'' from November 1971 ...
. New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1956.
* ''House of Lies''. Translated from the French ''Les Mensonges'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1957
* ''
Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "m ...
''. Translated from the French by
Jean Racine
Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ; ; 22 December 1639 – 21 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille, as well as an important literary figure in the Western tr ...
. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 1957.
* ''Albert Camus: the invincible summer''. Translated from the French ''Albert Camus; ou, L'invincible été''. New York: George Braziller, 1958.
* ''The pretentious young ladies: a one-act comedy in prose''. Translated from the French ''
Les Précieuses ridicules
''Les Précieuses ridicules'' (, ''The Absurd Précieuses'' or ''The Affected Ladies'') is a one-act satire by Molière in prose. It takes aim at the ''précieuses'', the ultra-witty ladies who indulged in lively conversations, word games and, in ...
'' by
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...
. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 1959.
* ''Café Céleste''. Translated from the French ''L'Empire Céleste'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1959.
* ''Saint-Exupéry. A biography''. Translated from the French ''Saint-Exupéry'' by Marcel Migeo. London: Macdonald, 1961.
* ''Virginia Woolf''. Translated from the French ''Virginia Woolf par elle-même'' by Monique Nathan. New York: Grove Press, 1961.
* ''The Favourite''. Translated from the French ''Les Personnages'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. London: W. H. Allen, 1962.
* ''The Medici Fountain: a novel''. Translated from the French ''Les Personnages'' by
Joseph Kessel
Joseph Kessel (10 February 1898 – 23 July 1979), also known as "Jef", was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Biography
Kessel was born to a Jewish family in ...
. London: A. Barker, 1963
* ''Beyond Time''. Translated from the French ''Hors du temps'' by Michel Siffre. London: Chatto & Windus, 1965
* (with Renaud Bruce) ''Interior Exile''. Translated from the French and Spanish ''L'Exil intérieur.'' by Michel Siffre. London: Peter Owen, 1965
* (with Helen Beauclark et al.) ''Earthly paradise : an autobiography''. Translated from the French ''Colette : autobiographie tirée des œuvres de Colette'' 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 artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...
. London: Secker & Warburg, 1966
* ''The pure and the impure''. Translated from the French ''Pur et l'impur'' by Colette. New York: Farrar, 1966.
* ''Signs and wonders''. Translated from the French ''Les signes et les prodiges'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967.
* ''The Witches: Three ages of sorcery''. Translated from the French ''Trois âges de la nuit'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. London: W. H. Allen, 1970.
* ''Ho Chi Minh and his Vietnam: a personal memoir''. Translated from the French ''Face à Ho chi Minh'' by
Jean Sainteny
Jean Sainteny or Jean Roger (29 May 1907, in Vésinet – 25 February 1978) was a French politician who was sent to Vietnam after the end of the Second World War in order to accept the surrender of the Japanese forces and to attempt to re-annex ...
. 1972.
* ''My Prison''. Translated from the Spanish ''Mi cárcel'' by Isabel Álvarez de Toledo y Maura, Duchess of Medina Sidonia. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
* ''The Devastion of the Indies: a short account''. Translated from the Spanish '' Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias'' by
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ); 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a Spanish clergyman, writer, and activist best known for his work as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman, then became ...
. New York: Seabury Press, 1974.
* ''The Underground Game''. Translated from the French ''Le jeu du souterrain'' by Françoise Mallet-Joris. London: W. H. Allen, 1974.
* ''Dom Helder Camara : the violence of a peacemaker''. Translated from the French ''Dom Helder Camara'' by José de Broucker. New York: Orbis Books, 1978.
Other
* (ghostwritten) ''César Ritz, host to the world'' by Marie-Louise Ritz. London: G. G. Harrap, 1938
* (ed.) ''The memoirs of Doctor Felix Kersten'', Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1947