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 … →
In 1882 Daniel-Lesueur published her first two collections: a novel edited by Calmann-Levy and a collection of poems with Alphonse Lemerre. Both were crowned by the Académie française. At the official Montyon prize award at the end of 1883, the perpetual secretary Camille Doucet indicated the reasons behind this … →
At the funeral of Daniel-Lesueur (5/1/1921), speeches were delivered and a tribute was written by a former president of the Société des Gens de Lettres. Here are some excerpts: Il est facile de trouver dans l’existence si brillante de ces dernières années des sujets de louange et d’admiration. Mais … →
Daniel-Lesueur lived in several places in Paris. First in the Rue de Turin (ninth arrondissement of Paris) at her mother’s house in the years 1870-1880, then at the 24, rue des Dames (seventeenth arrondissement) around 1882-1890; when her daughter was born she lived with Gustave Hubbard at the 135, … →
For reasons that are too long to explain here, and in particular her sudden death, Daniel-Lesueur was buried in the Montparnasse cemetery in Paris in a vault belonging to her younger brother Henry Loiseau (where her mother-in-law and their mother had been buried). Actually Daniel-Lesueur was to be buried … →
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 … →