Paris 2015: Cimetière de Vaugirard, 15e arrondissement #4: Marguerite Bourcet and Ella Bouet-Dufeil

'MARGUERITE BOURCET
ÉCRIVAIN CATHOLIQUE
1899 – 1938'

Marguerite Bourcet wrote books in different genres: novels, children's literature, travel, biography. Among her works are L'Héritière de Ferlac (1922), L'Étoile de Navailles (1925), Princesse de neige, suivi de La romance d'autrefois (1931), Le Jura (1934), Mirage de gloire (1935), and Un couple de tragédie : le duc et la duchesse d'Alençon (1939).

'ELLA BOUET-DUFEIL
ÉCRIVAIN CATHOLIQUE
1905 – 1994'

Ella Bouet-Dufeil is only listed in the BNF catalogue as having written two books: Marguerite Bourcet, mon amie (1963) and L'Amitié, cette accusée, un long procès, une riche histoire (1968).

Paris 2015: Cimetière de Vaugirard, 15e arrondissement #3: Lucien Besnard

There's not a great deal of information readily available online about the playwright Lucien Besnard (1872–1955), although I've managed to discover that he was born in Nonancourt (Eure), that his full name is Lucien-Eugène Besnard, and that his final play – Dans l'hombre du harem – was turned into a film in 1929. His current Wikipédia entry gives almost no biographical details, but lists a large number of his plays: Le Glas (1896), Papa Dollivet (1898), Les Chiens du maître (1899), La Fronde (1900), Le Domaine (1902), L'Affaire Grisel (1904), La Plus Amoureuse (1906), Mon ami Teddy (1908), Le Diable ermite (1909), La Folle enchère (1910), Je veux revoir ma Normandie (1913), L'homme qui n'est plus de ce monde (1924), Le Cœur partagé (1926), Dans l'hombre du harem (1927).

Paris 2015: Cimetière de Vaugirard, 15e arrondissement #2: Marius-Ary Leblond

Marius-Ary Leblond won the Goncourt in 1909 for the novel En France, the story of Claude Mavel from La Réunion, but now in Paris and having problems adapting to the changed environment. The name Marius-Ary Leblond in fact conceals two cousins from La Réunion: Marius Leblond (1880–1953) – or Georges Athénas, and Ary Leblond (also called Aimé Merlo) (1877–1958).

And of course they moved to Paris, where they wrote many works together. In 1911 they created a museum in La Réunion which in 1918 was called le musée Léon-Dierx, and in 1934 Ary became conservator of the Musée de la France d’Outre-Mer in Paris.

Paris 2015: Cimetière de Vaugirard, 15e arrondissement #1: Édouard Gressin

'Édouard Alexandre Louis

GRESSIN

Poète et Chansonnier,

28 MAI 1846  19 AOÛT 1901'

Among Édouard Gressin's publications are Rien, chansons et scènes lyriques (1886) and Roses et cyprès, chansons et poésies (1894). He made his living working for an architect, but his main interests lay elsewhere. He was a voracious reader and also wrote works for the theatre, including Ninette, which was performed at the Théâtre de la galerie Vivienne in 1890.