The Fascinating Colette

by Phelicity Marie Dauphine

Colette was the pen name of the famous French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette. She was born in 1873 in the Burgundy Region of France. When she was 20, she married Henri Gauthier-Villars. Her career as a writer spanned from her early 20s to her mid-70s. But her first books, the Claudine series, were published under her husband's name! She divorced that husband (I can certainly see why!) and worked in the music halls of Paris, until she married Henri de Jouvenel, a newspaper editor, in 1912. During World War I she was a freelance journalist, and she also converted her home into a hospital. After the war, and the publication of her novel "Cheri", Colette's writing career bloomed. She divorced the second Henri and went on to write about fifty novels total. Her books were clever and intimate, and many had autobiographical elements. Her most popular novel, "Gigi," which she wrote at the age of 72, was made into a Broadway play and then a very successful movie, starring a young dancer named Leslie Caron as Gigi. Meanwhile, she had married a man named Maurice Goudeket in 1935, making her full name Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette Gauthier-Villars de Jouvanel Goudeket. What a remarkable name! It's way longer than mine. It might even be longer than Elizabeth Taylor's. She seems to have found happiness that time. At least she didn't divorce that one. Being a wise woman, perhaps she knew cats are superior to men. Because yes, Colette was owned by not just one cat, but many throught her life. The main cat, and most easily proven, who owned Colette was a purebred French Chartreux who was actually named Franchette. Colette wrote one of her most popular books about that cat, in which she gave her the name "Saha". The book was "La Chatte", published in 1933. It is still in print today, over 70 years later. Many other cats lived with Colette and were deeply loved by her during her life. Among them were Kiki-la-Doucette ("Doucette" is French for "gentle one"), La Chatte Derniere, La Touteu, Minionne, Muscat, Petiteu, and Toune. When she died in Paris in 1954, Colette was only the second woman to have ever become a Grand Officier of the Legion of Honor, and she was given a state funeral, but she was refused church rites because of her lifestyle, which was quite daring for her time. She was a fascinating woman, a talented writer, and extremely quotable! I'm sure you have heard: "There are no ordinary cats." "By associating with the cat, one only risks becoming richer." "Time spent with cats is never wasted." all by Colette.