Pozzi, Catherine |
| POET, MAN OF LETTERS (FRANCE) |
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BORN 13 Jul 1882, Paris - DIED 3 Dec 1934, Paris BIRTH NAME Pozzi, Catherine Marthe Louise GRAVE LOCATION Bergerac, Dordogne: Cimetière Beauferrier, 33 rue Beauferrier |
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Catherine Pozzi was the daughter of the famous surgeon Samuel Pozzi. Her mother was the heiress Thérèse Loth-Cazalis (1856-1932). From an early age she was interested in music and she started a diary when she was eleven years old. Reading Marie Bashkirtseff's diary intensified her own writing. When she 25 years old she married the dramatist Édouard Bourdet and in 1909 their son Claude was born. In 1910 the first symptoms of tuberculosis occurred and it would haunt her until her death. In 1913 she met André Fernet, a friend of Roger Martin du Gard. He became a close friend but he stressed that their relationship should remain strictly platonic. Fernet served as a volunteer during the First World War and died in an aerial duel. Catherine studied philosophy, history, mathematics and, as a pupil of Marie Jaëll, piano. In 1918 she passed her baccalaureate. In the same year her father was murdered by his patient Maurice Machu. In 1920 she divorced Bourdet and she started a stormy affair with Paul Valéry. From 1924 to 1925 she corresponded with Rainer Maria Rilke. Anna de Noailles and Colette were other friends. Her affair with Valéry lasted for eight years and after it ended she felt isolated. She used morphine and laudanum and continued suffering from tuberculosis. She died in 1934 in Paris and was buried with her mother in Bergerac. She is best remembered for her volume of poetry "Mesures" that was completed shortly before her death and was published in 1935. Her journals and her correspondence with Valéry were published as well. Family • Father: Pozzi, Samuel Jean de Related persons • was influenced by Bashkirtseff, Maria • was a friend of Bibesco, Anna, Comtesse de Noailles • was a friend of Colette, Sidonie Gabrielle • was pupil of Jaëll, Marie |
| Images |
 The grave of Catherine Pozzi at the Cimetière Beauferrier, Bergerac. Picture by Androom (10 May 2017) |
Sources • Catherine Pozzi - Wikipedia (EN) |
