Diane de Margerie

Diane Jacquin de Margerie (24 December 1927 – 25 August 2023) was a French woman of letters and translator from English.

Biography Diane de Margerie was the daughter of Jenny Fabre-Luce (1896–1991) and Roland de Margerie (1899–1990). Her father was the nephew of writer Edmond Rostand and the cousin of Gérard Mante, who married Marcel Proust's niece. Her mother was loved by Rainer Maria Rilke.

Diane de Margerie was the sister of (1923–2003), a Jesuit and theologian, and Emmanuel Jacquin de Margerie (1924–1991), ambassador of France to the United States.

de Margerie first married Prince Ricardo Pignatelli della Leonessa (1927–1985). A son was born in 1952, Fabrizio Pignatelli della Leonessa, who would go on to become a diplomat and serve as Italian ambassador to Guatemala and Honduras. Her second marriage was to the writer Dominique Fernandez; the couple had a son, , and a daughter, Laetitia Fernandez.

A novelist, literary critic, short story writer, biographer, and translator, de Margerie was the author of a diverse body of work.

Once a member of the Prix Femina jury, she received several awards. She lived in China and Italy.

In La Femme en pierre (1989), de Margerie celebrates the Chartres Cathedral, the city where she lived. With Isola, Retour des îles Galapagos, she recounts, in a poetic style, her impressions of travel.

Diane de Margerie died in Paris on 25 August 2023, at the age of 95.

Works 1974: Le Détail révélateur, novel, Flammarion, Paris 1976: Le Paravent des enfers, novel, Flammarion 1979: L’Arbre de Jessé, novel, Flammarion 1979: La Volière, récit, , Paris 1980: Ailleurs et autrement, short stories, Flammarion 1982: Duplicités, short stories, Flammarion 1985: Le Ressouvenir, Flammarion 1989: La Femme en pierre, Éditions Gallimard, coll. « L'un et l'autre », Paris 1992: Marcel Proust (Marcel et Léonie), Christian Pirot 1994: Le Jardin secret de Marcel Proust, album, photographs by André Martin, Albin Michel, Paris 1996: Dans la spirale, Gallimard, coll. « Haute Enfance », Paris 1997: Bestiaire insolite du Japon, Albin Michel 1998: Autour de Gustave Moreau, Christian Pirot 2000: Edith Wharton, lecture d'une vie, biography 2001: Maintenant, Mercure de France, Paris 2003: Isola, Retour des îles Galapagos, , Paris 2004: Aurore et George, biography, Albin Michel 2006: L’Étranglée, novel, Mercure de France 2007: Noces d'encre, essay, Philippe Rey 2010: Proust et l’obscur, essay, Albin Michel 2012: Passion de l’énigme, Mercure de France 2013: Éclats d’insomnie, Éditions Grasset 2016: De la grenouille au papillon, Arléa 2016: A la recherche de Robert Proust, Flammarion

Prizes and distinctions 1985: Prix Marcel Proust for Le Ressouvenir 1994: Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 1996: Prix Jacques-Chardonne and prix du Pen club français, for Dans la spirale 2000: Prix Marcel-Thiébaut, prix France-Amérique, for Edith Wharton, lecture d'une vie 2001: Prix littéraire Prince-Pierre-de-Monaco, for all her work 2004: Prix Médicis essai for Aurore et George 2008: Commander of the National Order of Merit (France) 2009: Prix Contrepoint for La passion Brando 2013: Prix Cazes for Éclats d'insomnie 2015: Officer of the Legion of Honour