Lucie Delarue-Mardrus
Encyclopedia
Lucie Delarue-Mardrus was a French
journalist
, poet
, novelist, sculptor, historian and designer. She was a prolific writer who produced more than 70 books.
In France, she is best known for her poem beginning with the line "L'odeur de mon pays était dans une pomme" ("In the smell of an apple I held my native land.") Her writings express her love of travel and her love for her native Normandy
. L'Ex-voto (1932), for example, describes the life and milieu of the fishermen of Honfleur at the opening of the twentieth century.
She was married to the translator J. C. Mardrus
from 1900 to 1915, but her primary sexual orientation was toward women. She was involved in affairs with several women throughout her lifetime, and she wrote extensively of lesbian love.
In 1902-03 she wrote a series of love poems to the American writer and salon hostess Natalie Clifford Barney
, published posthumously in 1957 as Nos secrètes amours (Our Secret Loves). She also depicted Barney in her 1930 novel, L'Ange et les Pervers (The Angel and the Perverts), in which she said she "analyzed and described Natalie at length as well as the life into which she initiated me".
The protagonist
of the novel is a hermaphrodite
named Marion who lives a double life, frequenting literary salons in female dress, then changing from skirt to trousers to attend gay soirées. Barney appears as "Laurette Wells", a salon hostess who spends much of the novel trying to win back an ex-lover, loosely based on Barney's real-life attempts at regaining her relationship with her former lover, Renée Vivien
.
One admirer wrote to describe Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, stating in part;
"She is adorable. She sculpts, mounts to horse, loves a woman, then another, and yet another. She was able to free herself from her husband and has never embarked on a second marriage or the conquest of another man."
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...
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...
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, novelist, sculptor, historian and designer. She was a prolific writer who produced more than 70 books.
In France, she is best known for her poem beginning with the line "L'odeur de mon pays était dans une pomme" ("In the smell of an apple I held my native land.") Her writings express her love of travel and her love for her native Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. L'Ex-voto (1932), for example, describes the life and milieu of the fishermen of Honfleur at the opening of the twentieth century.
She was married to the translator J. C. Mardrus
J. C. Mardrus
Joseph Charles Mardrus, otherwise known as "Jean-Charles Mardrus" , born in Cairo, was a French physician and a noted translator. Jean-Charles's surname was originally Mardirossian, but the family shortened it to Mardrus. His family had some Armenian origins, and his relatives were so wealthy that...
from 1900 to 1915, but her primary sexual orientation was toward women. She was involved in affairs with several women throughout her lifetime, and she wrote extensively of lesbian love.
In 1902-03 she wrote a series of love poems to the American writer and salon hostess Natalie Clifford Barney
Natalie Clifford Barney
Natalie Clifford Barney was an American playwright, poet and novelist who lived as an expatriate in Paris....
, published posthumously in 1957 as Nos secrètes amours (Our Secret Loves). She also depicted Barney in her 1930 novel, L'Ange et les Pervers (The Angel and the Perverts), in which she said she "analyzed and described Natalie at length as well as the life into which she initiated me".
The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the novel is a hermaphrodite
Hermaphrodite
In biology, a hermaphrodite is an organism that has reproductive organs normally associated with both male and female sexes.Many taxonomic groups of animals do not have separate sexes. In these groups, hermaphroditism is a normal condition, enabling a form of sexual reproduction in which both...
named Marion who lives a double life, frequenting literary salons in female dress, then changing from skirt to trousers to attend gay soirées. Barney appears as "Laurette Wells", a salon hostess who spends much of the novel trying to win back an ex-lover, loosely based on Barney's real-life attempts at regaining her relationship with her former lover, Renée Vivien
Renée Vivien
Renée Vivien, born Pauline Mary Tarn was a British poet who wrote in the French language. She took to heart all the mannerisms of Symbolism, as one of the last poets to claim allegiance to the school...
.
One admirer wrote to describe Lucie Delarue-Mardrus, stating in part;
"She is adorable. She sculpts, mounts to horse, loves a woman, then another, and yet another. She was able to free herself from her husband and has never embarked on a second marriage or the conquest of another man."