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Anne de Noailles, born November 1, 1876 (other sources say November 15) died April 30, 1933, was a member of the exiled Romanian royalty and an accomplished writer.
Born in Paris, France, Anna-Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba, Princess of Brancovan, was the daughter of exiled Prince Brancovan of Romania and a Greek mother, Ralouka (Rachel) Musurus. Her mother, a well known musician, for whom the Polish composer Ignacy Paderewski dedicated several of his compositions.
In 1897 she married Mathieu Fernand Frédéric Pascal Marquis de Noailles (1873-1942) and the couple soon became the toast of Parisian high society. Using the nom de plume Anne de Noailles, she wrote three novels, an autobiography, and a number of poems. At the beginning of the 20th century, her salon on the Avenue Hoche attracted the intellectual, literary and artistic elite of the day including Francis Jammes, Paul Claudel, Colette, André Gide, Frédéric Mistral, Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac, Paul Valéry, Jean Cocteau, Alphonse Daudet, Pierre Loti, Paul Hervieu, and Max Jacob.
So popular was de Noailles that various notable artists of the day painted her portrait. In 1899, it was Antonio de la Gandara, then Kees van Dongen, Jacques Emile Blanche, and, in the picture seen here, by the British portrait painter Philip Alexius de Laszlo. As well, in 1906 her image was sculpted by Rodin and can be seen today in the Musée Rodin in Paris.
Anne de Noailles was the first woman to become a Commander of the Legion of Honor and the Académie Française named a prize in her honor. She died in 1933 and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
Writings:
- Le Coeur innombrable (1901)
- L'Ombre des jours (1902)
- Les Éblouissements (1907)
- Les Vivants et les Morts (1913)
- Les Forces éternelles (1920)
- Poème de l'amour (1924)
- L'Honneur de souffrir (1927)
- Exactitudes, Paris (1930)
- Derniers Vers et Poèmes d'enfance (1934)
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