Louisa Siefert (1845 – October 1877) was a best-selling 19th century French poet. The daughter of Henry Siefert, vice-consul to Portugal, and Adele-Adrienne Belz, she was born and grew up 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 ...

. Her first book of poems ''Rayons perdus'' was published in December 1868; the first edition sold out quickly and two more editions appeared by April 1869. She wrote a literary column for the ''Journal de Lyon''. In 1876, she married Jocelyn Pene,

Emilio Castelar Emilio Castelar y Ripoll (7 September 183225 May 1899) was a Spanish republican politician, and a president of the First Spanish Republic. Castelar was born in Cádiz. He was an eloquent orator and a writer. Appointed as Head of State in 1873 ...

's secretary. Siefert suffered from migraines and severe arthritis during her short life and died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in Pau at the age of 32. Her work was included in the second volume of ''

Le Parnasse contemporain Le Parnasse contemporain (, "The Contemporary Parnassus", e.g., the contemporary poetry scene) is composed of three volumes of poetry collections, published in 1866, 1871 and 1876 by the editor Alphonse Lemerre. The volumes included one hundred ...

''. Her poetry was viewed favorably by

Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he s ...

. In ''Un poète oublié'',

Lucien Scheler Lucien Scheler (1902 – 23 April 1999) was a French writer, poet, publisher, and bookseller who participated in the literary resistance against Nazism. Early life Scheler was born in Kassel, Germany in 1902. He was the grandson of philologist ...

described Siefert's life as "une vie illuminé par la beauté du verbe" (a life illuminated by the beauty of the verb).

Selected works

Source: * ''L'Année républicaine'', poetry (1869) * ''Les Stoïques'', poetry (1870) * ''Les Saintes Colères'', poetry (1871) * ''Comédies romanesques'', play in verse (1872) * ''Méline'', novel (1875) * ''Souvenirs, Poésies inédites'', poetry (1881)

References

1845 births 1877 deaths French women poets 19th-century French poets Mass media people from Lyon 19th-century French women writers 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in France {{France-poet-stub