Marie-Anne de Bovet


Marie-Anne de Bovet was a French writer. From 1893 to 1930, she published 35 novels, in addition to other works.

Life and work

She was born in Metz, France. She was the daughter of General Bovet. She married the Marquis de Bois-Hébert but she wrote under her maiden name. Her writing career began in 1889 by publishing travelogues. Her work appeared in several magazines and newspapers in French and English. She was bilingual. As early as 1888, Bovet frequented the salon of Juliette Adam. She wrote literary criticism in La Nouvelle Revue, and traveled to Ireland on behalf of La République Française, a Gambetta newspaper. She wrote for La Vie Parisienne and the feminist newspaper, La Fronde, founded in 1887 by Marguerite Durand. Here, her articles included "Housewife or Harlot", where she attacked Maupassant and Proudhon's speeches on women, and "The Eternal Feminine", where she rejected the categorization of women. Bovet protested against misogynist prejudice and defended women's intelligence. During the Dreyfus Affair, she wrote for La Libre Parole, a strongly anti-Semitic newspaper. Though she traveled widely, she wrote mainly on Ireland and Algeria; she also visited Scotland, Greece and Poland. The date and circumstances of her death are unknown, but her last work was written in 1935 when was 80 years old. The Prize Louise Bourbonnaud was established in Paris as a Gold Medal to be given annually to an explorer, French by nationality.

Selected works

;Travelogues
;Novels