Colette Vivier

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Colette Edwidge Hélène Lejeune (4 July 1898 – 9 September 1979), who wrote under the pseudonym Colette Vivier, was a French author of children’s literature.[1][2][3] In 1972 and 1974, she was highly commended as an author of children's literature by the Hans Christian Andersen Award.[4]

Biography[edit]

Vivier was born on 4 July 1898 in the 17th arrondissement of Paris, France in a bourgeoisie household.[2][3] She married an academic named Jean Duval,[3] and was also known by the name Colette Duval-Lejeune.[1]

Vivier frequently visited a primary school in the Parisian neighborhood of Batignolles. Inspired by the young girls from working-class families that attended the school, she based her writing off of her observations of their families.[3] She wrote a number of novels focused on childhood, many of which were written in the style of a diary.[1] One of her books, La Maison des Petits Bonheurs (1939), was written from the perspective a young girl writing in her diary.[3][1] In 1939, the book received the Prix Jeunesse [fr] (Youth Prize).[5]

During World War II, Vivier and her husband were active in the French Resistance.[1] They were members of the resistance group Friends of Alain-Fournier, along with other academics Claude Aveline, Jean Cassou, Marcel Abraham, Agnès Humbert, and Simone Martin-Chauffier. The group ran covertly as a literary club, and partnered with the Groupe du musée de l'Homme to establish an underground newspaper called Résistance that was distributed in the occupied zones during the war. The newspaper stopped production after its fourth issue in 1941, when members of the resistance network began to be arrested.[6][7]

In 1972 and 1974, she was chosen as a highly commended author by the jury of the Hans Christian Andersen Award.[4]

Vivier died on 9 September 1979 in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.[2]

Selected works[edit]

  • La Maison des Petits Bonheurs (The House of Small Felicities, 1939)[1]
  • Entrez dans la danse (Join the Dance, 1943)[1]
  • La maison des quatre vents (1946; English translation, The House of Four Winds, 1969)[1]
  • La grande roue (The Great Wheel, 1950)[1]
  • Rémi et le fantôm (1952; English adaptation, Rémi, 1962)[1]
  • L'étoile polaire (The Polar Star, 1953)[1]
  • La Porte ouverte (1955)[8]
  • Le Petit Théâtre (1968)[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Perrot, Annie (2006). "Vivier, Colette". In Zipes, Jack (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-514656-1.
  2. ^ a b c "Colette Vivier (1898-1979)". data.bnf.fr. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e Jan, Isabelle. "Collete Vivier". Encyclopædia Universalis (in French). Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b Fourth Book of Junior Authors & Illustrators. H. W. Wilson Co. 1978. p. 336. ISBN 978-0-8242-0568-3. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Colette Vivier". Ricochet (in French). Institut suisse Jeunesse et Médias. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  6. ^ Carroll, Sean B. (24 September 2013). "8: An Hour of Hope". Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize. Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-95235-6 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Sapiro, Gisèle (31 December 2020). "7 The Sense of Subversion: The Comité national des écrivains (CNE)". The French Writers' War, 1940-1953. Duke University Press. p. 375. doi:10.1515/9780822395126-009. ISBN 978-0-8223-9512-6. S2CID 243393257. Retrieved 11 September 2022 – via De Gruyter.
  8. ^ a b Jan, Isabelle (1973). On Children's Literature. Allen Lane. pp. 182–183. ISBN 978-0-7139-0213-6. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
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