Georgie Raoul-Duval

Jeannie Urquhart or Georgie Raoul–Duval (3 July 1866 – 3 November 1913) was an American writer, playwright, and socialite. She is mainly remembered for having been in a ménage-a-trois with Colette and Colette's first husband Henry Gauthier–Villars.

Early life Urquhart was born in the 16th arrondissement in Paris, France during one of the frequent travels of American merchant David Urquhart and his wife Augusta (née Slocomb). She was raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and educated in France. However, the production was not successful and closed in a few days. She then also became the lover of Colette's husband Henry Gauthier–Villars. She also ended her association with the couple. Urquhart also appeared as Suzy in Colette's La Retraite sentimentale (The Sentimental Retreat).

Urquhart went on to have an affair with the writer Marie de Hérédia, wife of Henri de Régnier and mistress of Pierre Louÿs. Her other lovers were José Maria Sert and Catherine Pozzi.

In 1913, she died at her home on 27 Quai d'Orsay in Paris at the age of 47.

Popular culture

Colette fictionalized George Raoul-Duvawent as the Austrian girl Rézi in Claudine en ménage, the third episode of her Claudine series. Colette caricatured George Raoul-Duvawent again as Suzy in La Retraite sentimentale in 1907. Jean Cocteau modeled the mother in his novel Les Parents terribles after her. Édouard Bourdet, who depicted her as Madame d'Aiguines in his 1926 play La Prisonernière. She was played by Eleanor Tomlinson in the 2018 film Colette.

Publications

Plays Daring, George. The Golden Light, 1905

Novels G.R. Duval. Shadows of Old Paris. London: F. Griffiths, 1910 — Written in the Sand. London: W. J. Ham-Smith, 1912 — Little Miss, An Unfinished Story. Edinburgh: Ballantyne Press, 1914