Fanny Dénoix des Vergnes


Fanny Dénoix or Fanny Dénoix des Vergnes was a French poet and writer who was lauded as "the muse of the Oise," the site of her well known poem, Jeanne Hachette, or the siege of Beauvais.

Biography

Fanny was born Marie-Françoise Descampeaux, in Luchy, France on May 5, 1798. Her father was Jean-Françoise Descampeaux and her mother, Marie-Jeanne Boutielle. Her father was the tutor for one of the sons of King Louis XV. From an early age, Fanny loved literature, preferring "the reveries of solitude to the distractions of the world."
Married first to Mr. Lavergnat, Fanny married a second time on 16 February 1818 to Mr. Dénoix des Vergnes, surgeon of the Royal Guard dragoons. From 1832 on, she published collections of poems under the name of Fanny Dénoix, Fanny Denoix or Fanny Dénoix des Vergnes.

Correspondent

Dénoix corresponded with many French intellectuals of the time including, Victor Hugo, Chateaubriand, Eugène Sue and Alphonse de Lamartine.
On 29 June 1832, as Dénoix was just exploring her poetic aspirations, she learned that the famed writer, François-René de Chateaubriand, had been imprisoned. According to an account by Countess Amable Tastu, Dénoix "flew to Paris, entered the hotel of the police prefecture, and despite the most severe orders, obstacles constantly raised, refusals a thousand times repeated, she reached the dungeon of the illustrious prisoner. Thrilled with confusion, emotion, happiness, she could finally contemplate the august features of the author of Rene, hearing the sound of his immortal voice and savoring the touching expression of his gratitude. Full of inexpressible delight, she returned to her province, exclaiming: "This day is the most beautiful of my life!" A correspondence ensued with the famed writer answering "in the most generous way." Some of those letters have been preserved.

Poet and writer

In 1833, Dénoix published a poem, Jeanne Hachette, or the siege of Beauvais winning an award at the Toulouse Floral Games, and was described as a "young woman with born talent." In 1837, she published Why I am a Poet: To my detractors in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Amiens.
Dénoix produced her first poetry collection in 1837, Hours of Solitude, and perhaps her most ambitious endeavor was to translate into verse the Mysteries of Paris by Eugène Sue. After the 1848 French revolution, Fanny Dénoix became actively involved in politics, publishing an ode to the army, a collection of patriotic verses, and a salute to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.
In 1851, in Beauvais, on the occasion of the erection of the statue to Jeanne Hachette, Dénoix read her renown poem about the heroine using "flaming stanzas that were reflected on the lips of the 'Muse de l'Oise,' with a superhuman enthusiasm." On that same occasion, the author bequeathed to the city the substantial sum of 5,000 francs with the stipulation that the interest would be awarded every four years to deserving poets. She took that opportunity to make the first awards: Paul Dupont-Sevres, the unnamed author of a Latin poem "Ode to Jeanne Hachette", and Laçroix de a Neuville-en-Ilez. The prizes were awarded 1880-1914, ceasing with World War I.

Congress member

Dénoix was a contributor to Flandre Illustrée and a member of several intellectual societies, notably the 1853 scientific congress, for which she authored a poem, To the city of Arras. According to Gerson, she was one of only three female members of the congress among 421 men. He notes that "women published less than two percent of historical monographs between 1866 and 1875, for instance. Their subordinate role in this patrimonial field suggests that they struggled to impose themselves within an amateurish realm that participated in a broader program of political exclusion."

Death

Dénoix died in Beauvais, France on 17 January 1879, at about 82 years of age.

Honors

Among her many books, poems and letters, the author's name is spelled Dénoix or Denoix.