Marie Cardinal
BornSimone Odette Marie-Thérèse Cardinal
(1929-03-09)9 March 1929
French Algeria
Died9 May 2001(2001-05-09) (aged 72)
Valréas, France
OccupationNovelist
LanguageFrench
NationalityFrench
GenreLiterature

Marie Cardinal (born Simone Odette Marie-Thérèse Cardinal; 9 March 1929 – 9 May 2001) was a French novelist and occasional actress.[1][2]

Life and career

Cardinal was born in French Algeria and was the sister of the film director Pierre Cardinal. She received a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne and in 1953 married the French playwright, actor and director Jean-Pierre Ronfard.[3] They had three children; Alice, Benoit, and Benedict. From 1953 to 1960 she taught philosophy at schools in Salonica, Lisbon, Vienna and Montreal.[3]

Cardinal published her first novel, Écoutez la Mer (Listen to the Sea), in 1962. During the 1960s she published three more novels and was involved with films as well. In 1967 she had a role in Jean-Luc Godard's film Deux Ou Trois Choses Que Je Sais D'elle[3] and played the memorable role of Mouchette's mother in Robert Bresson's film Mouchette.[4]

In 1972 Cardinal published La Clé Sur La Porte (The Key of the Door), followed by Les Mots Pour Le Dire (The Words to Say It) in 1975; these two novels were best sellers and established her reputation.[3] Les Mots Pour Le Dire was the first book by Cardinal to be published in the United States.[2]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Johnson, Douglas (17 May 2001). "Marie Cardinal: French writer with an early feminist voice in literature". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b McWhorter 1984
  3. ^ a b c d Johnson 2001
  4. ^ "Mouchette". IMDb. Retrieved 1 September 2014.

Further reading