About
Natalie Clifford Barney, born October 31, 1876 in Dayton, Ohio, and died February 2, 1972 in Paris, was an American expatriate writer. Heiress to a railroad fortune, she moved permanently to Paris at age 21. For over sixty years, from 1909 to 1969, she hosted a literary salon every Friday at 20 rue Jacob, frequented by leading figures of the era. Nicknamed 'the Amazon' by Rémy de Gourmont, she founded the Women's Academy in 1927 in response to the Académie française. Openly lesbian, she had a relationship lasting over fifty years with painter Romaine Brooks. She published about twenty works, mainly in French, including poems, epigrams, essays, and memoirs.
* 1876-10-28 — † 1972-02-02
Major works
- Quelques Portraits: Sonnets de Femmes (1900)poetry
- Pensées d'une Amazone (1920)epigrams
- Aventures de l'esprit (1929)essays
- Souvenirs indiscrets (1960)memoirs
- Traits et Portraits (1963)memoirs
Key milestones
- 1909Begins her literary salon at 20 rue Jacob in Paris, which she would host for over 60 years.
- 1927Founds the Women's Academy to honor and promote women writers.
- 1972Dies in Paris and is buried at Passy Cemetery.
Themes
feminismsapphismmodernismliterary sociabilityexpatriation
Sources: britannica.com · poets.org · remarkableohio.org