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Colette was the pen name of the famous French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (January 28, 1873 - August 3, 1954).

She was born in Saint-Sauveur-en-Puisaye, Yonne, in the Burgundy Region of France, the daughter of Jules-Joseph Colette and Adele Eugenie Sidonie Landoy ('Sido'). In 1893 she married Henri Gauthier-Villars. Her first books, the Claudine series, were published under the pen name of her husband, 'Willy'.

She divorced Gauthier-Villars in 1906 and took up work in the music halls of Paris, under the wing of the Marquise de Belboeuf. She married Henri de Jouvenel, the editor of Le Matin newspaper, in 1912. During World War I she was a freelance journalist, but she also converted her home into a hospital.

Post-war, her writing career bloomed following the publication of Chéri (1920). She published around fifty novels in total, many have autobiographical elements and her themes can be roughly divided into idyllic natural tales or dark struggles in relationships and love. All her novels were marked by clever observation and dialogue with a intimate style.

She divorced Henri de Jouvenel in 1924. She married Maurice Goudeket in 1935, making her full name Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette Gauthier-Villars de Jouvanel Goudeket.

Colette was a provocative figure throughout her life, between husbands engaging in lesbian affairs and working with the Vichy regime during World War II.

She was a member of the Belgian Royal Academy (1935), president of the Académie Goncourt (1945), and a Chevalier(1920) and a Grand Officier (1953) de la Legion of Honor.

When she died in Paris on August 3, 1954, she was given a state funeral, although she was refused Catholic rites because of her lifestyle. She is buried in Le Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.

Her works include:

Claudine à l'école (1900)
Claudine à Paris (1901)
Claudine en ménage (1902)
Claudine s'en va (1903)
Dialogues de Bêtes (1904)
La Vagabonde (1910)
L'Envers du music hall (1913)
La Paix Chez les Bêtes (1916)
Chéri (1920)
La Maison de Claudine (1922)
Le Blé en Herbe (1923)
La Fin de Chéri (1926)
La Naissance du Jour (1928)
Sido (1929)
Le Pur et L'Impur (193?)
La Chatte (1933)
Duo (1934)
Le Képi (1943)
Gigi (1945)
L'Étoile Vesper (1947)
Le Fanal Bleu (1949)

[1] Contemporary book reviews

@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 She divorced Henri de Jouvenel in 1924. She married Maurice Goudeket in 1935, making her full name Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette Gauthier-Villars de Jouvanel Goudeket.
-Colette was a provocative figure throughout her life, engaging in [[lesbian]] affairs between husbands and working with the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] during [[World War II]].
+Colette was a provocative figure throughout her life, between husbands engaging in [[lesbian]] affairs and working with the [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] during [[World War II]].
 She was a member of the Belgian Royal Academy (1935), president of the [[Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt|Académie Goncourt]] (1945), and a Chevalier(1920) and a Grand Officier (1953) de la [[Legion of Honor]].