Let us keep Daniel-Lesueur’s memory alive, as French female writer (1854-1921)
Daniel-Lesueur (1854-1921) is the masculine pseudonym of Jeanne Loiseau. She was a talented female writer, but also a great philanthropist and a feminist who committed sensitively to the defense of women’s rights. Perfectly bilingual, she excelled in various literary genres, as novels, poesy, translation and theater. She was known … →
The choice of her pseudonym was imposed by the editor of her only two first novels, Calmann-Lévy. It was inspired by the name of her maternal ancestors (Daniel O’Connell), and by the maiden name of her mother (Marie Henriette Lesueur). She acknowledged that the choice had been made in … →
Daniel-Lesueur integrated the Société des Gens de Lettres in 1892, and in 1990 applied for entering the Committee. She failed, but tried again – successfully – in 1907, and became consequently the first woman to be elected at this Committee. George Sand had indeed been co-opted but never took … →
Born on March, 6th 1854 in the Batignolles (a suburb absorbed within Paris municipality in 1860), she spent her childhood and adolescence in Paris and England. The death of her father and the resulting financial difficulties for her family was a painful experience for her. She gave up her … →
Daniel-Lesueur has always been a woman of action, always committed and devoted, always listening carefully her female contemporaries. She created or took part during her life in several important charities. She was a great philanthropist, a committed but balanced feminist, a patriot full of life who devoted her literary … →
In 1882 Jeanne Loiseau published her first novel, Le mariage de Gabrielle, edited by Calmann-Lévy. Her editor demands her to choose a masculine pseudonym; she eventually took the one of a maternal great-uncle, Daniel O’Connell (the Irish Liberator), and of her mother’s maiden name. She published during the same … →
As a feminist she was a reference for many of her contemporaries. She was compared to George Sand (for her novels) or Mrs Achermann (for her poems), but she was bigger than that. Despite her female status, that made it more difficult to become famous, she struggled without any … →
She was proud of being French and was active within the Third Republic context. During the First World War she showed a overwhelming energy, sometimes beyond her own strength – and up to exhaustion. She took the lead not only with her writings in press (articles, poems for specific … →