Marie Chaix

Marie Chaix , née Beugras (born February 3, 1942 in Lyon ) is a writer of French descent with US and French citizenship.

Biographical

Her mother came from Alsace , her father from Bourgogne . His father, Albert Beugras , was a leading member of the right-wing party " Parti populaire français " (PPF) in World War II to a collaborator of the German occupying forces. He was therefore in the early childhood years of his youngest daughter, Marie, - (sentenced to life imprisonment) - in prison for a little less than 10 years. Marie Chaix had three siblings. Both brothers died early; the older one, Jean, was probably buried in a bomb attack in Germany in 1945. The sister became a recognized chanson poet and interpreter under the name Anne Sylvestre .

Marie Chaix studied German language and literature. Before her first book publication, she was temporarily press spokeswoman for the publishing house "Le Seuil" and worked as a translator. From 1965 to 1969 she was secretary to the chanson poet Barbara . One of her books is about aspects of the life of this Barbara (bourgeois Monique Serf). In 1968 she married the journalist Jean-Francois Chaix. After the separation, the American writer Harry Mathews became her second husband. Marie Chaix lives in the US for about half a year, but is also in France a lot.

The work

The literary work of Marie Chaix mainly revolves around biographies, mostly around members of her own family. Her first work "Les lauriers du Lac de Constance" is a reworking of the story of her father. This was a big risk because no child of a French collaborator had performed so publicly before. The book received a lot of public attention and became a "best seller". "Les Silences ou la vie d'une femme" is about the life and death of her mother. "Juliette, chemin des Cerisiers" is about the domestic servant who was like a second mother to the children and who stayed with the rest of the family unpaid when the "landlord" was in prison. After a break of fifteen years, "L'été du sureau" was released in 2005. Again, it's about memories. Their writing was triggered by the separation of one of their daughters from her husband, the writer Richard Morgiève. This made Marie Chaix extremely upset and brought up memories of other separations in her own and family history.

bibliography

• Les lauriers du Lac de Constance , Le Seuil, 1974
• Les Silences ou la vie d'une femme , Le Seuil, 1976
• L'âge du tendre , Le Seuil, 1979
• Le Salon des Anges , Le Seuil, 1982
• Juliette chemin des Cerisiers , Le Seuil, 1985
• Un 21 avril à New York (journal 1980-1982) , Le Seuil, 1986
• Barbara , Calmann-Lévy, 1986
• Le fils de Marthe , Calmann-Lévy, 1990
• L'été du sureau , Le Seuil, 2005