Marie de Régnier

The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is French literature, poetry and prose. Alfred de Musset is recorded as an influence. Distinctions recorded are Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française, Prix Gustave Le Métais-Larivière and Grand Prix de Poésie.

• Name — Marie de Régnier • Pen Name — Gérard d'Houville • Birth Name — Marie-Louise Antoinette de Heredia • Born — 20 December 1875 • Birthplace — Paris • Died — 6 February 1963 • Place of death — Suresnes, France • Occupation — Novelist, poet • Language — French • Spouse — Henri de Régnier • Relatives — José-Maria de Heredia (father) • Awards — Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française, 1918

Marie de Heredia was the second of three daughters of Cuban-born French poet José-Maria de Heredia, and from an early age she mixed with many writers and artists who came to her father's house, including Leconte de Lisle, Anna de Noailles, Paul Valéry, Pierre Louÿs and Anatole France. Her private life was somewhat convoluted. She married poet Henri de Régnier, but had a long-term relationship with Pierre Louÿs, who was probably the father of her son Pierre de Régnier (1898–1943). She also took several other lovers, including Edmond Jaloux, Jean-Louis Vaudoyer, Gabriele D'Annunzio (during his exile in Paris from 1910 to 1914), and dramatist Henri Bernstein. Her association with openly lesbian colleagues also led to rumours about her own sexuality.

Though sometimes better known for her liaisons with other artists, Marie de Régnier was a very accomplished poet and novelist in her own right, "considered one of the most gifted of the bevy of women writers that her age produced". Her first attempts at poetry were written at the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, where her father was a director. He and his friends encouraged her talents from a very young age, and she eventually began publishing under her married name, later taking the masculine-sounding pseudonym "Gérard d'Houville" (derived from the name of a Norman grandmother, "Louise Gérard d'Houville" or "Girard d'Ouville"). She later said her use of a pen-name was a way of distancing herself from her more famous husband and father, but it was not a serious attempt to disguise her sex: contemporary critics and commentators always referred to "Madame" Gérard d'Houville. Her work appeared notably in the Revue des deux Mondes from 1894 and was widely admired, with some critics comparing her favourably to Mallarmé. Many of these poems have still not been collected into a modern edition. Her first novel, L'Inconstante, appeared in 1903.

Marie de Régnier was recorded at birth as Marie Louise Antoinette de Heredia. She also worked under the names Gérard d’Houville and Gérardine. The authorities additionally record the heading Marie de Heredia. Her recorded language was French. She was the child of José-Maria de Heredia and Louise de Heredia. She married Henri de Régnier. Recognition and collections. Régnier received Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française, Prix Gustave Le Métais-Larivière and Grand Prix de Poésie.