Marguerite Yourcenar
Marguerite Yourcenar was a notable Belgian-born writer and the first woman elected to the French Academy, achieving this distinction in 1980. Born on June 8, 1903, in Brussels, she lost her mother shortly after birth and was raised by her father and various caregivers, fostering a rich cultural education that influenced her literary career. Yourcenar published her first works in her late teens, moving on to explore themes of sexuality, life, and the human condition through a unique style characterized by confessional letter-monologues.
Her significant works include the acclaimed "Memoirs of Hadrian," published in 1951, which presents a fictionalized account of the Roman emperor, and "The Abyss," released in 1968, both of which solidified her reputation as a major literary voice. After relocating to the United States during World War II, she became an American citizen and continued to write extensively, producing essays, plays, and translations. Yourcenar's contributions to literature earned her numerous honors, including honorary degrees and prestigious literary awards. Her works remain celebrated for their intellectual depth and exploration of the complexities of human experience, resonating with readers around the world. She passed away on December 17, 1987, in Maine, leaving behind a rich legacy as a pioneering figure in modern literature.
Marguerite Yourcenar
French-born American author and translator
- Born: June 8, 1903
- Birthplace: Brussels, Belgium
- Died: December 17, 1987
- Place of death: Northeast Harbor, Maine
Biography
The first woman to be elected to the French Academy, Marguerite Yourcenar (yewr-suh-nahr) was one of the most original writers of post-World War II France. She was born in Brussels, Belgium, on June 8, 1903, the only daughter of aristocratic and wealthy parents, Michel and Fernande de Crayencour. Several days after her birth, her mother died of puerperal fever and peritonitis; Marguerite was raised then by a series of nurses and maids, as she and her father moved from Belgium to northern France to Paris. Her father, as she lovingly and admiringly portrays him in her autobiographical Archives du Nord (northern archives), was an adventurous and unconventional man who loved the cosmopolitan excitement of European casino and spa towns. Well-read in literature, he revealed to his daughter the beauty of French, English, Latin, and Greek masterpieces, while private tutors taught her the other school subjects. She was thus able to pass the baccalauréat examinations in 1919. {$S[A]Crayencour, Marguerite de;Yourcenar, Marguerite}
Two years later, at age eighteen, she published Le Jardin des chimères (the garden of chimeras) at her father’s expense, under the pen name Marguerite Yourcenar (an incomplete anagram of her surname), followed the next year by another work of poetry, Les Dieux ne sont pas morts (The gods are not dead). The publication in 1929 of her novel Alexis not only saw the first favorable reviews but also was followed in quick succession by other novels and short stories, mostly written in the confessional letter-monologue genre. These involve psychological studies of men in conflict with their sexuality, with life and art, and with love.
In 1939 Yourcenar, who had come to the United States on a lecture tour, could not return to Nazi-occupied Europe. At the recommendation of the English poet Stephen Spender, she was able to secure a part-time instructorship in French and art history at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York (a position she held until 1950), while she contributed articles and poems to émigré periodicals. At the end of the war, she decided to remain in the United States and became an American citizen in 1947, at the same time officially changing her name to Marguerite Yourcenar. In 1950 she moved to Mount Desert Island, off the coast of Maine, with Grace Frick, her longtime friend and cotranslator.
The first work to be a critical and popular success was the 1951 prizewinning Memoirs of Hadrian, the fictional first-person narrative of the great Roman emperor. In an altogether different style, the dark and brooding The Abyss, published in 1968 and translated into eighteen languages, received the coveted Prix Fémina and finally brought Yourcenar fame and recognition. It was made into a film by André Delvaux in 1988. In between had appeared essays, plays, and translations, including an anthology of Negro spirituals titled Fleuve profond, sombre rivière (wide, deep, troubled water)—to be followed in 1984 by Blues et gospels (Blues and gospels).
In recognition of her literary contributions, Yourcenar was awarded honorary degrees from such prestigious institutions as Harvard University, elected to the Belgian Royal Academy (1970), honored with numerous prizes, decorated with the rank of officer (promoted later to commander) in the prestigious French Légion d’Honneur. On March 6, 1980, by a vote of twenty to twelve, she became an “Immortal” member of the French Academy, thereby breaking an all-male tradition dating back to 1635. Despite increasingly severe pulmonary illnesses, she continued to write, mainly essays, short stories, translations, and critical studies. She died at her Maine home on December 17, 1987.
During a 1968 interview with the noted French author Françoise Mallet-Joris, Yourcenar declared, “I believe in the nobility of refusal.” Indeed, all of her protagonists rebel against moral or cultural limits and engage in deviant behavior or radical thought, but they often find themselves unable to resolve the conflicts between society’s demands and their passions. Yourcenar is recognized for the loftiness of her thought, the breadth of her culture, and the humanity of her creations, and her works continue to enjoy great popularity.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
Alexis: Ou, Le Traité du vain combat, 1929 (Alexis, 1984)
La Nouvelle Eurydice, 1931
Denier du rêve, 1934 (A Coin in Nine Hands, 1982)
Le Coup de grâce, 1939 (Coup de Grâce, 1957)
Mémoires d’Hadrien, 1951 (Memoirs of Hadrian, 1954; also known as Hadrian’s Memoirs)
L’Œuvre au noir, 1968 (The Abyss, 1976; also known as Zeno of Bruges, 1994)
Anna, Soror . . . , 1981
Commel’eau qui coule, 1982 (3 novellas; includes Anna, Soror . . . , Un Homme obscur, and Une Belle Matinée; Two Lives and a Dream, 1987)
Short Fiction:
La Mort conduit l’attelage, 1934
Nouvelles orientales, 1938 (Oriental Tales, 1985)
“Conte bleu,” “Le Premier soir,” “Maléfice,” 1993 (A Blue Tale, and Other Stories, 1995)
Drama:
Électre: Ou, La Chute des masques, pb. 1954 (Electra: Or, The Fall of the Masks, 1984)
Rendre à César, pb. 1961 (Render unto Caesar, 1984)
Le Mystère d’Alceste, pb. 1963
Qui n’a pas son Minotaure?, pb. 1963 (To Each His Minotaur, 1984)
Théâtre, pb. 1971 (partial translation as Plays, 1984)
Poetry:
Le Jardin des chimères, 1921
Les Dieux ne sont pas morts, 1922
Feux, 1936 (Fires, 1981)
Les Charités d’Alcippe, et autres poèmes, 1956 (The Alms of Alcippe, 1982)
Nonfiction:
Pindare, 1932
Les Songes et les sorts, 1938 (Dreams and Destinies, 1999)
Sous bénéfice d’inventaire, 1962 (The Dark Brain of Piranesi, and Other Essays, 1984)
Souvenirs pieux, 1974 (Dear Departed, 1991)
Archives du Nord, 1977 (How Many Years, 1995)
Les Yeux ouverts: Entretiens avec Matthieu Galey, 1980 (With Open Eyes: Conversations with Matthieu Galey, 1984)
Mishima: Ou, La Vision du vide, 1980 (Mishima: A Vision of the Void, 1986)
Le Temps, ce grand sculpteur, 1983 (That Mighty Sculptor, Time, 1988)
La Voix des choses, 1987
Quoi? L’Éternité, 1988
Le Labyrinthe du monde, 1990 (autobiography; includes Souvenirs pieux, Archives du Nord, and Quoi? L’Éternité)
Lettres à ses amis et quelques autres, 1995
Entretiens avec des Belges, 1999
Portrait d'une voix : vingt-trois entretiens (1952–1987), 2002
D’Hadrien à Zénon : correspondance 1951–1956, 2004
Une volonté sans fléchissement : correspondance 1957–1960 : D’Hadrien à Zénon, II, 2007
Persévérer dans l'être : correspondance, 1961–1963 : d’Hadrien à Zénon, III, 2011
En 1939, l’Amérique commence à Bordeaux : lettres à Emmanuel Boudot-Lamotte (1938–1980), 2016
Children’s and Young Adult Literature:
Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé, 1979
Translations:
Les Vagues, 1937 (of Virginia Woolf’s novel The Waves)
Ce que savait Maisie, 1947 (of Henry James’s novel What Maisie Knew)
Présentation critique de Constantin Cavafy, 1958 (of Cavafy’s poetry)
Fleuve profond, sombre rivière: Les Negro Spirituals, 1964 (of spirituals)
Présentation critique d’Hortense Flexner, 1969 (of Flexner’s poetry)
La Couronne et la lyre, 1979 (selection of Greek poetry)
Le Coin des “Amen,” 1983 (of James Baldwin’s play The Amen Corner)
Blues et gospels, 1984 (of American songs)
Le Cheval noir à tête blanche : contes d'enfants indiens, 1985
Miscellaneous:
Œuvres romanesques, 1982
Bibliography
Farrell, C. Frederick, and Edith R. Farrell. Marguerite Yourcenar in Counterpoint. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1983. An introductory study of Yourcenar’s novels and essays, with a biographical note, chronology, and bibliography.
Frederick, Patricia E. Mythic Symbolism and Cultural Anthropology in Three Early Works of Marguerite Yourcenar: “Nouvelles orientales,” “Le Coup de grâce,” “Comme l’eau qui Coule.” Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1995. Concentrates mainly on Yourcenar’s short fiction, but the introduction and conclusion contain valuable insights into all of her writing. Includes notes and bibliography.
Horn, Pierre. Marguerite Yourcenar. Boston: Twayne, 1985. A reliable introductory study, with a biographical chapter, two chapters on Memoirs of Hadrian, a chapter on autobiographical works, and another on writing in other genres. Includes chronology, notes, and an annotated bibliography.
Howard, Joan E. From Violence to Vision: Sacrifice in the Works of Marguerite Yourcenar. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1992. Contains chapters on all the major fictional works, with notes and bibliography.
Savignau, Josyane. Marguerite Yourcenar: Inventing a Life. Translated by John E. Howard. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993. A reliable and well annotated biography which also examines the significance of her contributions to literature. Includes family tree, notes, and bibliography.
Shurr, Georgia Hooks. Marguerite Yourcenar: A Reader’s Guide. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1987. Two chapters on Yourcenar’s experimental fiction, her fictional studies of politics, a chapter on Memoirs of Hadrian, and a chapter on women in Yourcenar’s fiction. Includes a chronology, notes, a bibliography of books and articles about Yourcenar, and a bibliography of Yourcenar’s works in English translation.