Marie Closset (August 16, 1873 – July 20, 1952) was a Belgian poet. She wrote under the name Jean Dominique. She was born in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and was educated under the system of education developed by

Isabelle Gatti de Gamond Isabelle Laure Gatti de Gamond (28 July 1839 – 11 October 1905) was a Belgian educationalist, feminist, and politician. Life Isabelle Gatti was the second of four daughters born to Giovanni Gatti, an Italian artist, and feminist writer Zo� ...

. She chose to write under a male "nom de plume" so that her work would be judged on its own merits; the name came from a character in a novel by

Eugène Fromentin Eugène Fromentin (; 24 October 182027 August 1876) was a French painter and writer. Life and career He was born in La Rochelle. After leaving school he studied for some years under Louis Cabat, the landscape painter. Fromentin was one of the e ...

. Her poems were first published in small literary magazines and later in the ''

Mercure de France The () was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was publis ...

''. She published several collections of poems: * ''La Gaule blanche'' (1903) * ''L'Anémone des mers'' (1906) * ''L'Aile mouillée'' (1909) * ''Le Puits d'azur'' (1912) * ''Sable sans Fleurs'' (1926) She was a member of a non-conformist group known as the "Peacocks". In 1913, Closset helped form the Institut de culture française. After living in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

for a time, she moved to

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

in the early 1920s. She was a mentor for the American poet

May Sarton May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995), a Belgian-American novelist, poet, and memoirist. Although her best work is strongly personalised with erotic female imagery, she resisted the label of ‘lesbi ...

, who took Closset as inspiration for her novel ''The Single Hound''. Closset died in Uccle at the age of 78. She appears in the

neo-impressionist Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, '' A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the beginn ...

painting ''Young Women By the Sea'' (or ''The Promenade'') by

Théo van Rysselberghe Théophile "Théo" van Rysselberghe (23 November 1862 – 13 December 1926) was a Belgian Neo-impressionism, neo-impressionist Painting, painter, who played a pivotal role in the European art scene at the turn of the twentieth century. Bi ...

. Her poem ''Le Don silencieux'' was set to music by

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers. ...

. The composer

Gabriel Grovlez Gabriel Marie Grovlez (4 April 1879 – 20 October 1944) was a French composer, conductor, pianist, and music critic. Early life and education Grovlez was born in Lille in 1879. His mother – the child of one of Chopin's students – was his fi ...

also set poems by Closset to music.

References

1873 births 1952 deaths Belgian poets in French 20th-century pseudonymous writers Pseudonymous women writers Belgian women writers Writers from Brussels Gatticiennes {{Belgium-writer-stub