Lucien Daudet (11 June 1878 – 16 November 1946) was a French writer, the son of

Alphonse Daudet Alphonse Daudet (; 13 May 184016 December 1897) was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée, Léon and Lucien Daudet. Early life Daudet was born in Nîmes, France. His family, on both sides, belonged to the ' ...

and

Julia Daudet Julia Daudet, born Julia Allard (13 July 1844 – 23 April 1940), was a French writer, poet and journalist who wrote under the names Marguerite Tournay and Karl Steen. She was the wife and collaborator of Alphonse Daudet, mother of Léon Daudet, ...

. He was never really able to trump his father's greater reputation and is now primarily remembered for his romantic ties to fellow novelist

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

(''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twen ...

''). Daudet was also friends with

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

Biography

The Daudet family was composed of the father, Alphonse, the mother

Julia Julia may refer to: People *Julia (given name), including a list of people with the name *Julia (surname), including a list of people with the name *Julia gens, a patrician family of Ancient Rome *Julia (clairvoyant) (fl. 1689), lady's maid of Qu ...

(née Allard), Léon, the older brother, Edmée, and Lucien. Every member of the family wrote books: father, mother, brother, sister, sister-in-law ( Marthe Allard under the pseudonym of “Pampille”) and uncle (

Ernest Daudet Louis-Marie Ernest Daudet (; 31 May 1837 – 21 August 1921) was a French journalist, novelist and historian. Prolific in several genres, Daudet began his career writing for magazines and provincial newspapers all over France. His younger brothe ...

). Lucien himself published about fifteen books. Cultivated, “very beautiful, very elegant, a thin and frail young man, with a tender and a somewhat effeminate face”, according to

Jean-Yves Tadié Jean-Yves Tadié (born 7 September 1936) is a French writer, biographer, and academic, noted particularly for his work on Marcel Proust. Biography Tadié studied at the ''École normale supérieure'' in Paris, graduating in 1956. He began to pub ...

, Daudet lived a fashionable life which made him meet Marcel Proust. In 1897,

Jean Lorrain Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school. Lorrain was a dedicated disciple of dandyism and spent much of his time am ...

publicly questioned the nature of Proust's relationship with Lucien Daudet. Proust challenged Lorrain to a duel over the implication that Proust and Daudet were lovers. Both duelists survived. Lucien Daudet was also a painter. After having taken lessons at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

, he was a pupil of Whistler and had an exposition together with

Bernheim-Jeune Bernheim-Jeune gallery is one of the oldest art galleries in Paris. Opened on Rue Laffitte in 1863 by Alexandre Bernheim (1839-1915), friend of Delacroix, Corot and Courbet, it changed location a few times before settling on Avenue Matignon. ...

in 1906. His tableaux are not known anymore except by literary allusions to them (correspondence of Proust; catalogue by

Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan; ; 15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian, Greek and Bulgarian descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. She was the only female poet ...

).(f
appl Lachaise, Lucien Daudet
/ref> All his life, Daudet was overshadowed by his father in literature ("I am the son of a man whose celebrity and talent count for several generations, I remain under his shade"), and by Whistler in painting ("He gave me a certain taste in painting, but also very great contempt for that which is not of first rank... and I apply this contempt to what I make.") Towards the end of his life, in 1943, he married Marie-Thérèse, the younger sister of Pierre Benoit.

Works

* ''Le Chemin mort'', 1908 * ''La Fourmilière'', 1909 * ''Le Prince des cravates'', 1910 * ''L’Impératrice Eugénie'', Fayard, 1911 * ''Calendrier'', Ed. De La Sirène, 1922 * ''L’Inconnue'', Flammarion, 1923 * ''Autour de 60 lettres de Marcel Proust'', 1928 * ''Dans l’ombre de l’impératrice Eugénie'', Gallimard, 1935 * ''Vie d’Alphonse Daudet'', 1941

Sources

External links

Excerpt from the first chapter of ''Proust'' by Edmund White

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daudet, Lucien 1878 births 1946 deaths Académie Julian alumni Writers from Paris Daudet family 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists French gay writers 19th-century French LGBTQ people 20th-century French LGBTQ people French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers French LGBTQ novelists Gay novelists