- Source: Diane de Margerie
Diane Jacquin de Margerie (24 December 1927 – 25 August 2023) was a French woman of letters and translator from English.
Biography
Diane de Margerie was the daughter of Jenny Fabre-Luce (1896–1991) and Roland de Margerie (1899–1990). Her father was the nephew of writer Edmond Rostand and the cousin of Gérard Mante, who married Marcel Proust's niece. Her mother was loved by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Diane de Margerie was Bertrand de Margerie's sister (1923–2003), a Jesuit and theologian, and Emmanuel de Margerie (1924–1991), ambassador of France to the United States.
Margerie first married Prince Ricardo Pignatelli della Leonessa (1927–1985). A son was born in 1952, Fabrizio Pignatelli della Leonessa. She married in second marriage the writer Dominique Fernandez; the couple had a son, Ramon Fernandez, and a daughter, Laetitia Fernandez.
A novelist, literary critic, short story writer, biographer, and translator, de Margerie is the author of a diverse work.
Once a member of the Prix Femina jury, she received several awards. She lived in China and Italy.
Her work leaves much room for autobiography. In La Femme en pierre (1989), de Margerie celebrates the Chartres Cathedral, the city where she lived. With Isola, Retour des îles Galapagos, she recounts, in a poetic style, her impressions of travel.
Diane de Margerie died in Paris on 25 August 2023, at the age of 95.
Works
1974: Le Détail révélateur, novel, Flammarion, Paris
1976: Le Paravent des enfers, novel, Flammarion
1979: L’Arbre de Jessé, novel, Flammarion
1979: La Volière, récit, Éditions Balland, Paris
1980: Ailleurs et autrement, short stories, Flammarion
1982: Duplicités, short stories, Flammarion
1985: Le Ressouvenir, Flammarion
1989: La Femme en pierre, Éditions Gallimard, coll. « L'un et l'autre », Paris
1992: Marcel Proust (Marcel et Léonie), Christian Pirot
1994: Le Jardin secret de Marcel Proust, album, photographs by André Martin, Albin Michel, Paris
1996: Dans la spirale, Gallimard, coll. « Haute Enfance », Paris
1997: Bestiaire insolite du Japon, Albin Michel
1998: Autour de Gustave Moreau, Christian Pirot
2000: Edith Wharton, lecture d'une vie, biography
2001: Maintenant, Mercure de France, Paris
2003: Isola, Retour des îles Galapagos, Éditions Pauvert, Paris
2004: Aurore et George, biography, Albin Michel
2006: L’Étranglée, novel, Mercure de France
2007: Noces d'encre, essay, Philippe Rey
2010: Proust et l’obscur, essay, Albin Michel
2012: Passion de l’énigme, Mercure de France
2013: Éclats d’insomnie, Éditions Grasset
2016: De la grenouille au papillon, Arléa
2016: A la recherche de Robert Proust, Flammarion
Prizes and distinctions
1985: Prix Marcel Proust for Le Ressouvenir
1994: Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
1996: Prix Jacques-Chardonne and prix du Pen club français, for Dans la spirale
2000: Prix Marcel-Thiébaut, prix France-Amérique, for Edith Wharton, lecture d'une vie
2001: Prix littéraire Prince-Pierre-de-Monaco, for all her work
2004: Prix Médicis essai for Aurore et George
2008: Commander of the National Order of Merit (France)
2009: Prix Contrepoint for La passion Brando
2013: Prix Cazes for Éclats d'insomnie
2015: Officer of the Legion of Honour
References
External links
Diane de Margerie on Babelio
Diane de Margerie quitte le jury du Femina on LivresHebdo (13 November 2014)
Diane de Margerie on France Culture
Diane de Margerie on the site of Arléa
Diane de Margerie raconte sa passion pour l'écriture on YouTube