Françoise Mallet-Joris
- Robert Amadou
- Alain Joxe
- Jacques Delfau
Françoise Mallet-Joris (6 July 1930 – 13 August 2016), the pen name of Françoise Lilar, was a Belgian author. She was a member of the Prix Femina committee from 1969 to 1971 and was appointed to the Académie Goncourt from November 1971 to 2011.
Early life
Françoise-Eugenie-Julienne Lilar was born on 6 July 1930 in Antwerp.[1] She was the first child of writer Suzanne Lilar (first woman admitted to the Antwerp Bar) and Albert Lilar, Belgian Minister of Justice and Minister of State. Françoise was also the older sister of Marie Fredericq-Lilar, an art historian of the 18th century. The household was French-speaking, but Françoise picked up Flemish from a maid.[2]
As a teenager, Lilar was quite rebellious, and desperately sought her independence from her parents. To defy them, she began dating an older man, playwright Louis Decreux. When her parents found out, they sent her to Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, but it didn't last long. To further annoy her parents, she married a Yale graduate student, Robert Amadou in 1948.[3] The same year, Lilar gave birth to their son, Daniel Amadou. Robert Amadou was French, and through him, Lilar gained French citizenship. After obtaining that, Lilar and Amadou divorced.[2]
During her time in Paris, Lilar attended the Sorbonne. Around this time, Lilar and her parents reconciled their relationship.[2]
Career
Lilar began her literary career with the publication of Le rempart des Béguines in 1951. She published under the name Françoise Mallet to avoid embarrassing her family, due to the novel's scandalous (lesbian) content. Later on in her career, however, she altered her penname to Françoise Mallet-Joris so as not to be confused with Robert Mallet.[2] Le rempart des Béguines was translated and published in America as The Illusionist and later on it was reprinted under the titles Into the Labyrinth and The Loving and the Daring. It is set in a town that resembles Mallet-Joris' native Antwerp and addresses the themes of social class and lesbianism.[4] She followed her first work with a sequel in 1955 named La chambre rouge, in English; The Red Room. In it, she focused less on lesbian themes but continued her treatment of social class and norms in Belgium.
Lilar became quite a prominent literary and public figure in France. As her career progressed, she mostly abandoned her Belgian roots, instead opting for a very Parisian career.[4]
Her last novel, Ni vous sans moi, ni moi sans vous, was published in 2007.[5]
Themes
Mallet-Joris' novels frequently deal with interpersonal relationships and social class in France and Belgium. Often, characters must deal with disappointment as they realize they have unrealistic expectations. She also depicts social climbers and deceitful characters.[6]
In Allegra (1976) Mallet-Joris tackled the themes of racism and feminism in France.
She has also written works of non-fiction, like The Uncompromising Heart: A Life of Marie Mancini, Louis XIV's First Love in 1964, and she has written essays about her philosophy of life and writing in Lettre à moi-même (A Letter to Myself) in 1963 and La Maison de papier (The Paper House) in 1970.
Literary awards
Lilar won the "Librarians' Prize" (Prix des bibliothécaires) in 1958 for House of Lies (in French, the title was Les mensonges which means simply "Lies"), the Femina Prize in 1958 for Café Céleste (in French, it was called L'empire céleste which means "Heavenly Empire" or "Celestial Empire", a title that is highly ironic) and the Monaco Prize in 1964 for her biography of Marie Mancini.
Personal life and death
In 1952, she was married to French historian Alain Joxe, but only for two years. Lilar referred to it as a summer romance.[2]
Later, she entered a relationship with Jacques Delfau. They married in 1958. Together, they had three children: Vincent, Alberte, and Pauline.[2]
Lilar had affairs with both men and women throughout her lifetime. Around 1970, Lilar met Marie-Paule Belle, a French variety singer who was openly lesbian. The two did not keep their relationship a secret. Lilar even composed lyrics for some of Belle’s songs, including writing the song which would bring Belle to celebrity status. Their affair ended in 1981. One year later, Lilar and Jacques Delfau divorced.
From 1969 to 1971, Lilar was a member of the Prix Femina jury. Because of that, after her term ended, she was unanimously elected to the Goncourt Academy in November 1971. She held that seat until 2011, when she resigned for health reasons.[5]
Françoise Mallet-Joris died on August 13, 2016, in Bry-sur-Marne, France at the age of 86.[7]
Selected works
- 1951: Le rempart des Béguines (2006 translation by Herma Briffault as The Illusionist, published by Cleis Press with introduction by Terry Castle.
- Previous translations had been titled Into the Labyrinth or The Loving and the Daring
- 1955: La chambre rouge (The Red Room)
- 1958: Cordélia (a collection of short stories);
- 1966: Les signes et les prodiges (Signs and Wonders)
- 1968: Trois âges de la nuit (The Witches)
- 1970: La Maison de papier (The Paper House)
- 1973: Le jeu du souterrain (The Underground Game)
- 1976: Allegra
- 1978: Jeanne Guyon (a biography)
- 1980: Dickie-Roi (miniserie : Dickie-roi)
- 1985: Le rire de Laura (Laura's Laugh)
- 1990: Adriana Sposa
- 1993: Divine
- 1993: Les Larmes
References
- ^ "Francoise Julienne Eugenie Lilar" in the Web: France, Death Records, 1970–2018 (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (Insee); Paris, France; Fichier des personnes décédées; Roll #: deces-2016.txt)
- ^ a b c d e f Susan Petit (2001). Françoise Mallet-Joris. Rodopi. pp. 1–157. ISBN 978-90-420-1216-5. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
- ^ "Frances J Lilar" in the New York State, Marriage Index, 1881-1967 (New York State Department of Health; Albany, NY, USA; New York State Marriage Index)
- ^ a b "Françoise Mallet-Joris | Belgian author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ a b Lens, Marian (4 December 2020). "Françoise Mallet-Joris (1930-2016)". L-Tour. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
- ^ "Françoise Mallet-Joris". timenote.info. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Françoise Mallet-Joris, the bulwark of feminists". Focus on Belgium. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
External links
- Jean-Louis de Rambures, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Paris 1978 (interview with F. Mallet-Joris, in French)
- Bibliography on Académie Goncourt site
- v
- t
- e
- 1904 Myriam Harry
- 1905 Romain Rolland
- 1906 André Corthis
- 1907 Colette Yver
- 1908 Édouard Estaunié
- 1909 Edmond Jaloux
- 1910 Marguerite Audoux
- 1911 Louis de Robert
- 1912 Jacques Morel
- 1913 Camille Marbo
- 1914
- 1915
- 1916
- 1917 Maurice Larrouy
- 1918 Henri Bachelin
- 1919 Roland Dorgelès
- 1920 Edmond Gojon
- 1921 Raymond Escholier
- 1922 Jacques de Lacretelle
- 1923 Jeanne Galzy
- 1924 Charles Derennes
- 1925 Joseph Delteil
- 1926 Charles Silvestre
- 1927 Marie Le Franc
- 1928 Dominique Dunois
- 1929 Georges Bernanos
- 1930 Marc Chadourne
- 1931 Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
- 1932 Ramon Fernandez [fr]
- 1933 Geneviève Fauconnier
- 1934 Robert Francis
- 1935 Claude Silve
- 1936 Louise Hervieu
- 1937 Raymonde Vincent
- 1938 Félix de Chazournes
- 1939 Paul Vialar
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944 Éditions de Minuit (publisher)
- 1945 Anne-Marie Monnet
- 1946 Michel Robida
- 1947 Gabrielle Roy
- 1948 Emmanuel Roblès
- 1949 Maria Le Hardouin
- 1950 Serge Groussard
- 1951 Anne de Tourville
- 1952 Dominique Rolin
- 1953 Zoé Oldenbourg
- 1954 Gabriel Veraldi
- 1955 André Dhôtel
- 1956 François-Régis Bastide
- 1957 Christian Mégret
- 1958 Françoise Mallet-Joris
- 1959 Bernard Privat
- 1960 Louise Bellocq
- 1961 Henri Thomas
- 1962 Yves Berger
- 1963 Roger Vrigny
- 1964 Jean Blanzat
- 1965 Robert Pinget
- 1966 Irène Monesi
- 1967 Claire Etcherelli
- 1968 Marguerite Yourcenar
- 1969 Jorge Semprún
- 1970 François Nourissier
- 1971 Angelo Rinaldi
- 1972 Roger Grenier
- 1973 Michel Dard
- 1974 René-Victor Pilhes
- 1975 Claude Faraggi
- 1976 Marie-Louise Haumont
- 1977 Régis Debray
- 1978 François Sonkin
- 1979 Pierre Moinot
- 1980 Jocelyne François
- 1981 Catherine Hermary-Vieille
- 1982 Anne Hébert
- 1983 Florence Delay
- 1984 Bertrand Visage
- 1985 Hector Bianciotti
- 1986 René Belletto
- 1987 Alain Absire
- 1988 Alexandre Jardin
- 1989 Sylvie Germain
- 1990 Pierrette Fleutiaux
- 1991 Paula Jacques
- 1992 Anne-Marie Garat
- 1993 Marc Lambron
- 1994 Olivier Rolin
- 1995 Emmanuel Carrère
- 1996 Geneviève Brisac
- 1997 Dominique Noguez
- 1998 François Cheng
- 1999 Maryline Desbiolles
- 2000 Camille Laurens
- 2001 Marie NDiaye
- 2002 Chantal Thomas
- 2003 Dai Sijie
- 2004 Jean-Paul Dubois
- 2005 Régis Jauffret
- 2006 Nancy Huston
- 2007 Éric Fottorino
- 2007 Gwenaëlle Aubry
- 2008 Jean-Louis Fournier
- 2010 Patrick Lapeyre
- 2011 Simon Liberati
- 2012 Patrick Deville
- 2013 Léonora Miano
- 2014 Yanick Lahens
- 2015 Christophe Boltanski
- 2016 Marcus Malte
- 2017 Philippe Jaenada
- 2018 Philippe Lançon
- 2019 Sylvain Prudhomme
- 2020 Serge Joncour
- 2021 Clara Dupont-Monod
- 2022 Claudie Hunzinger [fr]
- 2023 Neige Sinno