Natalie Clifford Barney (1876-1972) was a prolific rebellious poet and writer of the 20th century. She was a famous gatherer of people, hosting a weekly salon for many years that brought together brilliant writers and artists of her generation. Her life and particularly her romantic affairs were also the inspiration for multiple books.
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A previous version of this episode was corrected. It incorrectly attributed the authorship of Idylle Saphique. The piece was written by Liane de Pougy.
Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
Today’s queer icon was a prolific rebellious poet and writer of the 20th century. She was a famous gatherer of people, hosting a weekly salon for many years that brought together brilliant writers and artists of her generation. Her life and particularly her romantic affairs were also the inspiration for multiple books.. Let’s talk about Natalie Clifford Barney.
Natalie was born on October 31st 1876 in Dayton, Ohio to a wealthy family. From an early age, Natalie was drawn to art, writing and the French language. Her family had homes in Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Bar Harbor, Maine. Natalie went to an exclusive boarding school in France.
Natalie was very intelligent and defiant. She earned the nickname, the Amazon for riding her horse astride, instead of side saddle as was customary for women at the time.
In 1896, moved to Paris full-time. In her work, she focused on writing poetry and short-form pieces in French. These writings focused on love and grief, inspired by classics.
She also spent much of her time socializing. After settling in, Natalie’s stream of non monogamous lovers began.
Natalie was unabashedly herself and was open about her sexuality. She said, “I am a lesbian. One need not hide it, or boast of it.”
Still, her sexual exploits were fodder for much gossip in Paris. Her love life also inspired many acclaimed works of literature including Liane de Pougy’s Idylle Saphique in 1901 and Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness in 1928.
In 1900, Natalie published a book of love poems to women that caused great scandal, especially in her family’s circles. After the collection made headlines in the Washington papers, Natalie’s father, Albert, stormed into the publisher’s office only to buy and destroy every remaining copy and printing plate of the work.
Controversy never deterred Natalie from being her authentic self. She once said, “my queerness is not a vice, is not deliberate, and harms no one.”
In 1902, Natalie’s father passed away and she inherited a substantial amount of money. Seven years later, in 1909, Natalie moved to Rue Jacob and launched what would become a long-lasting weekly literary salon. Every Friday, Natalie entertained intellectuals and artists at her home, from Collette to F Scott Fitzgerald to Gertrude Stein and Truman Capote. Writers would come to mingle, share their work, and listen to others. Natalie particularly used her own influence to support the work of women. The literary salon was an institution through the roaring 1920s.
In 1927, Natalie took a step further in her support of women writers and helped to found a group called the Académie des Femmes as a response to the all male bastion of Académie Française. The group included many famous women writers of the day and its members got additional attention at salons where they could read their in progress or yet to be published works.
In 1930, Natalie published The One Who Is Legion, her only novel in English. The book follows the story of a person who commits suicide and is brought back to life as a genderless being with no memory.
As World War II began, Natalie moved to Florence with her longest lasting partner, Romaine Brooks.
Natalie’s allegiance during World War II is unclear. Some sources say that she was supportive of the fascists. Others suggest that she may have shared support for the fascists to avoid deportation, as she was one-eighth Jewish. Natalie did help a Jewish couple flee from Italy to the United States.
In 1946, Natalie and Romaine moved back to Paris only to find Natalie’s house at Rue Jacob was uninhabitable. It took three years of restoration for Natalie to move back into her old home and restart her Friday salons.
In 1963, Natalie published her last novel, Traits et Portraits at the age of 86. A few years later, after 50 years together, Natalie and Romaine broke up.
Around the same time as her breakup, Natalie was served an eviction notice for her Rue Jacob apartment.
Natalie was devastated.
Still, she fell in love again. This time with her final partner, Janine Lahohvary, the wife of a retired Romainan ambassador.
In 1972, Natalie died. She was 95 years old.
Throughout her life, Natalie Clifford Barney’s wit, writing, and fortune was dedicated to uplifting the voices of women. A critically acclaimed writer of many books herself, she worked tirelessly to promote her peers and hosted a salon that helped to define a decade. Before her passing, Natalie composed an epitaph reading: “I am this legendary being in which I will live again.”
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