Vilmorin, Louise de (1902–1969)

French novelist and poet . Born in 1902 in Verrièresle-Buisson, France; died in 1969; married second husband, Count Paul Palffy, late 1930s.

Selected writings:

(novels) Sainte-Unefois (Saint Onetime, 1934), La Fin des Villavides (The Last of the Villavides, 1938), Le Lit à colonnes (The Tapestry Bed, 1941), Le Retour d'Erica (Erica's Return, 1948), Julietta (1951), Madame de … (1951), La Lettre dans un taxi (Letter in a Taxi, 1958); (poetry) Fiançailles pour rire (Betrothal in Jest, 1939), L'Alphabet des aveux (Alphabet of Avowals, 1954).

Louise de Vilmorin was born in Verrières-le-Buisson in 1902 and published her first, largely autobiographical novel, Sainte-Unefois (Saint Onetime), at age 32. By the end of the 1930s, Vilmorin had had one unsuccessful marriage, embarked on a second—with Count Paul Palffy—and published her first poetry collection, Fiançailles pour rire (Betrothal in Jest, 1939). Although she was to publish more poetry later in life, Vilmorin received most acclaim for her novels. A number of her fictional works were made into films, including Le Lit à colonnes (The Tapestry Bed, 1941), Julietta (1951), and Madame de … (1951).

Vilmorin's elegant, ironic style, combined with her elaborate (and sometimes fantastic) plots, sophisticated settings, and characters drawn from high society, made many of her novels great popular successes, including La Fin des Villavides (The Last of the Villavides, 1938), La Lettre dans un taxi (Letter in a Taxi, 1958), and Le Retour d'Erica (Erica's Return, 1948). She was awarded the Grand Prix Littèraire de Monaco in 1955, and died in 1969.

sources:

Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature. 2nd ed. NY: Columbia University Press, 1980.

Paula Morris , D.Phil., Brooklyn, New York