Marc-André Raffalovich

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Marc-André Raffalovich around 1880

Marc-André Raffalovich (born September 11, 1864 in Paris , † 1934 ) was a French author and poet.

Life

Raffalovich was born into a Jewish family in 1864. His parents had moved from Odessa to Paris in 1863 . His older brother Arthur (1853-1921) worked as a Russian diplomat and French economic journalist. Marc-Andrés sister Sophie married and supported the Irish politician William O'Brien (1852-1928).

His parents were Marie Raffalovich (1832–1921) and Hermann Raffalovich (1828–1893). Marie Raffalovich had a close friendship with Claude Bernard .

After finishing school, Raffalovich went to England and studied in Oxford from 1882 . He then lived in London and opened a salon in the 1890s . There he met Oscar Wilde and John Gray . The author and Catholic priest John Gray was Raffalovich's longtime partner. They stayed together until their death in 1934.

Raffalovich wrote many poems and was a writer on the subject of homosexuality . He wrote for the Archives de l'Anthropologie Criminelle , founded in Lyon by Alexandre Lacassagne , a criminologist and professor of forensic medicine. Through his articles, Raffalovich became a recognized expert on homosexuality. He corresponded with other European scientists. His main work was Uranisme et unisexualité: étude sur différentes manifestations de l´instinct sexuel , which was published in 1896. In 1897 he began his work on Annales de l'unisexualité and Les Chroniques de l'unisexualité . In these works Raffalovich tried to catalog all content related to the topic of homosexuality. Historians still refer to this work to this day.

In 1896, Raffalovich converted to the Roman Catholic faith under the influence of his partner John Gray. Raffalovich joined the Dominicans as brother Sebastian . At the same time, Gray became a Catholic priest and was sent to Edinburgh . Raffalovich followed his significant other and lived in Edinburgh. Raffalovich died in 1934; His partner Gray also died that year.

Works (selection)

literature

  • Patrick Cardon , A homosexual militant at the beginning of the century: Marc Andre Raffalovich , in: Journal of Homosexuality , XXV 1993 (1-2), pages 183-191
  • Patrick Cardon, Discours littéraire et scientifiques fin de siècle: Les Archives d'Anthropologie Criminelle du Dr Lacassagne de Lyon, 1886–1914 , Université de Provence, 1984
  • Patrick Cardon, Un pionnier de l'homoliberté. Avec Marc-André Raffalovitch, l'homosexualité cessait d'être une inversion monstrueuse de l'hétérosexualité , number 389 of October 12, 1989 in the journal Gai Pied Hebdo (France)
  • Jerusha Hull McCormak , The Man who was Dorian Gray , St. Martin's Press, New York, 2000.
  • Rosario Vernon , L'Irrésistible ascension du pervers , EPEL "les grands classiques de l'érotologie moderne", 2000
  • Sewell, père Brocard, Two friends: John Gray and André Raffalovich: essays. Biographical and critical , Saint Albert's Press, Aylesford (Kent), 1963
  • Sewell, père Brocard, Footnote to the Nineties: a memoir of John Gray and André Raffalovich , Cecil and Emilia Woolf, London 1968, ISBN 0-900821-01-9 .
  • Aldrich R. and Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII , Routledge, London, 2001

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Raffalovich, Marc-André
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French author and poet
DATE OF BIRTH September 11, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH 1934