Geneviève Tabouis
Encyclopedia
Geneviève Tabouis was a French
historian
and journalist
. She was born in 1892, the daughter of Fernand Le Quesne (b. 1856), a noted French painter. She was first educated at the Convent of the Assumption, a fashionable Parisian convent. When she was 13 years old, the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was passed. In her 1942 autobiography, she wrote that a few years later, the nuns were forbidden to teach students. She left the convent school and went to public high school, where she specialized in archeology and Egyptology. She studied at the Faculte des Lettres in Paris and the School of Archeology at the Louvre. She wrote three popular books on the lives of Tutankhamen (1929), Nebuchadnezzar (1931), and Solomon (1936).
Tabouis' family included French diplomats Jules Cambon
(her uncle) and his brother Paul Cambon
. Other relatives were senior diplomats and officials in the French military. Her autobiography does not mention her husband, Robert, and refers only in passing to her son, who was called up into the French army in 1938, and to her daughter. She also mentions Arthur, her household servant. Tabouis moved in the highest social circles in France and England. She was invited to the coronation of George VI in 1936, referring in her autobiography to her coronation robe made by Edward Molyneux
and to having her hair coiffured by one of the most popular hairdressers in London.
In 1903, she spent several months at the French Embassay in Madrid with her uncle, Paul Cambon. In 1906, she and her cousin saw the wedding of Alfonso XIII of Spain
and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. From 1907 to 1914, she visited Berlin for a month or two each year to visit her uncle Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador to Berlin, meeting various German dignitaries. After World War I, she attended several sessions of the League of Nations with her uncle Jules.
In 1924, she began writing articles about the League of Nations for the Petit Marseillais and Petite Gironde, two large provincial newspapers. Her editor at Petit Marseillais told her to sign her names as "G. Tabouis" to hide her gender; Petit Gironde told her to use only her initials. As their correspondent, she attended the signing of the Locarno Treaties
in 1925.
In 1932, following the death of Aristide Briand
, Tabouis began writing a daily column for the Paris newspaper L'œuvre in addition to reporting for Petit Gironde and Petit Marseillais. In 1933, she accompanied French Prime Minister %C3%89douard Herriot who travelled to Moscow in an effort to forge a Soviet-French alliance against Germany.
Tabouis repeatedly warned about Hilter's rise and German re-armament. For her troubles, the French writer Leon Daudet
nick named her "Madam Tata, the Clairvoyant" in 1933. After Germany announced that it was re=introducing compulsory military conscription rebuilding its armed forces in March, 1935, the Greek diplomat Nikolaos Politis
warned her "You better watch out, Madame Tabouis, or they'll begin to call you Cassandra. You predict dire events, and, the worst of it is, they always happen." Hitler himself attacked her writing in a May 1, 1939 speech where he sarcastically said "As for Madame Tabouis, that wisest of women, she knows what I am about to do even before I know it myself. She is ridiculous."
When Tabouis vigorously campaigned for French support for Republican Spain against Franco, Petit Gironde (which was supported by Spanish buisnessman and Franco ally Juan March) dropped her as a correspondent in 1935. Petite Marseilles (whose director was married to a Spanish Fascist) asked her to "modify" her tone -- she left that paper as well.
Tabouis became the Foreign Editor of the L'œuvre in 1936, where her pro-Republican stance lead to attacks by the Parisian weeklies Candide and Gringoire as well as Action francaise
. She strongly supported intervention to prevent the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
, but the French chose not to intervene. Tabouis was accused of being a warmonger. On the eve of World War II, she was a regular correspondent for London's Sunday Referee in addition to her role at L'œuvre.
Tabouis fled France just before its surrender to Germany in 1940, having been warned that an arrest warrant was soon to be issued for her. She was forced to leave her husband, son, and daughter behind. She travelled to England and then to America. In New York, she wrote for New York's Daily Mirror and for London's Sunday Dispatch and edited the French-language "Pour la victoire".
After the war, she returned to Paris where she wrote for: Free France (1945-1949), Information (1949-1956) and Paris-Jour (from 1959). From 1957 to 1981, she had a radio program on Radio Luxembourg.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
. She was born in 1892, the daughter of Fernand Le Quesne (b. 1856), a noted French painter. She was first educated at the Convent of the Assumption, a fashionable Parisian convent. When she was 13 years old, the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State was passed. In her 1942 autobiography, she wrote that a few years later, the nuns were forbidden to teach students. She left the convent school and went to public high school, where she specialized in archeology and Egyptology. She studied at the Faculte des Lettres in Paris and the School of Archeology at the Louvre. She wrote three popular books on the lives of Tutankhamen (1929), Nebuchadnezzar (1931), and Solomon (1936).
Tabouis' family included French diplomats Jules Cambon
Jules Cambon
Jules-Martin Cambon was a French diplomat.He began his career as a lawyer , served in the Franco-Prussian War and entered the civil service in 1871...
(her uncle) and his brother Paul Cambon
Paul Cambon
Pierre Paul Cambon was a French diplomat and brother to Jules Martin Cambon.-Biography:He was called to the Parisian bar, and became private secretary to Jules Ferry in the préfecture of the Seine...
. Other relatives were senior diplomats and officials in the French military. Her autobiography does not mention her husband, Robert, and refers only in passing to her son, who was called up into the French army in 1938, and to her daughter. She also mentions Arthur, her household servant. Tabouis moved in the highest social circles in France and England. She was invited to the coronation of George VI in 1936, referring in her autobiography to her coronation robe made by Edward Molyneux
Edward Molyneux
Edward Henry Molyneux was a British fashion designer whose fashion house in Paris was in operation from 1919 until 1950.- Overview :Born in London to Justin Molyneux and Lizzy Kenny, Edward Molyneux attended Beaumont College, a Roman Catholic preparatory school...
and to having her hair coiffured by one of the most popular hairdressers in London.
In 1903, she spent several months at the French Embassay in Madrid with her uncle, Paul Cambon. In 1906, she and her cousin saw the wedding of Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII of Spain
Alfonso XIII was King of Spain from 1886 until 1931. His mother, Maria Christina of Austria, was appointed regent during his minority...
and Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. From 1907 to 1914, she visited Berlin for a month or two each year to visit her uncle Jules Cambon, the French Ambassador to Berlin, meeting various German dignitaries. After World War I, she attended several sessions of the League of Nations with her uncle Jules.
In 1924, she began writing articles about the League of Nations for the Petit Marseillais and Petite Gironde, two large provincial newspapers. Her editor at Petit Marseillais told her to sign her names as "G. Tabouis" to hide her gender; Petit Gironde told her to use only her initials. As their correspondent, she attended the signing of the Locarno Treaties
Locarno Treaties
The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland, on 5 October – 16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on 3 December, in which the First World War Western European Allied powers and the new states of central and Eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war...
in 1925.
In 1932, following the death of Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand
Aristide Briand was a French statesman who served eleven terms as Prime Minister of France during the French Third Republic and received the 1926 Nobel Peace Prize.- Early life :...
, Tabouis began writing a daily column for the Paris newspaper L'œuvre in addition to reporting for Petit Gironde and Petit Marseillais. In 1933, she accompanied French Prime Minister %C3%89douard Herriot who travelled to Moscow in an effort to forge a Soviet-French alliance against Germany.
Tabouis repeatedly warned about Hilter's rise and German re-armament. For her troubles, the French writer Leon Daudet
Léon Daudet
Léon Daudet was a French journalist, writer, an active monarchist, and a member of the Académie Goncourt.-Move to the right:...
nick named her "Madam Tata, the Clairvoyant" in 1933. After Germany announced that it was re=introducing compulsory military conscription rebuilding its armed forces in March, 1935, the Greek diplomat Nikolaos Politis
Nikolaos Politis
Nikolaos Politis was a Greek diplomat of the Interwar period. He was a professor of law by training, and prior to the First World War taught law at Paris University. He served as Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs on 1916-1920 and again in 1922. Also served as Greek representative to the League of...
warned her "You better watch out, Madame Tabouis, or they'll begin to call you Cassandra. You predict dire events, and, the worst of it is, they always happen." Hitler himself attacked her writing in a May 1, 1939 speech where he sarcastically said "As for Madame Tabouis, that wisest of women, she knows what I am about to do even before I know it myself. She is ridiculous."
When Tabouis vigorously campaigned for French support for Republican Spain against Franco, Petit Gironde (which was supported by Spanish buisnessman and Franco ally Juan March) dropped her as a correspondent in 1935. Petite Marseilles (whose director was married to a Spanish Fascist) asked her to "modify" her tone -- she left that paper as well.
Tabouis became the Foreign Editor of the L'œuvre in 1936, where her pro-Republican stance lead to attacks by the Parisian weeklies Candide and Gringoire as well as Action francaise
Action Française
The Action Française , founded in 1898, is a French Monarchist counter-revolutionary movement and periodical founded by Maurice Pujo and Henri Vaugeois and whose principal ideologist was Charles Maurras...
. She strongly supported intervention to prevent the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
, but the French chose not to intervene. Tabouis was accused of being a warmonger. On the eve of World War II, she was a regular correspondent for London's Sunday Referee in addition to her role at L'œuvre.
Tabouis fled France just before its surrender to Germany in 1940, having been warned that an arrest warrant was soon to be issued for her. She was forced to leave her husband, son, and daughter behind. She travelled to England and then to America. In New York, she wrote for New York's Daily Mirror and for London's Sunday Dispatch and edited the French-language "Pour la victoire".
After the war, she returned to Paris where she wrote for: Free France (1945-1949), Information (1949-1956) and Paris-Jour (from 1959). From 1957 to 1981, she had a radio program on Radio Luxembourg.
Works by Tabouis
- Tabouis, Private life of Tutankhamen; love, religion, and politics at the court of an Egyptian king. (1929)
- Tabouis, Nebuchadnezzar (1931)
- Tabouis, Private life of Solomon (1936)
- Tabouis, Life of Jules Cambon (1938)
- Tabouis, Blackmail or War (1938)
- Tabouis, They Called me Cassandra (1942)
- Tabouis, Grandeurs et servitudes américaines: souvenirs des U. S. A., 1940-1945 (1945)
- Tabouis, Vingt ans de "suspense" diplomatique (1958)