François Mitterrand's pen is not unknown to the general public. Its taste for women either. From his fiery loves was born an abundant literature. His correspondence with Anne Pingeot, brought together in a single collection published in 2016,
Letters to Anne
, testifies to his ardor for the mother of his hidden daughter, Mazarine. Solenn de Royer's book,
The Last Secret
, tells the story of the passion of the former President of the Republic, in the twilight of his life, for a young woman fifty years his junior. Today, the Piasa house revives the first emotions of the politician by auctioning off his correspondence with Marie-Louise Terrasse, now Catherine Langeais. The sale will take place on Friday 25 November.
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"These letters from François Mitterrand are often long and sometimes dramatic and, in the end, tragic"
, underlines the press release written by Jean-Baptiste de Proyart, bookseller and expert on sales.
Marie-Louise Terrasse is one of the rare conquests of the former president to have finally rejected him.
The letters
“testify to a passionate love, formulated in the most beautiful French language imaginable, in remarkable calligraphy.
Each of them could be compared to the very famous letters from Bonaparte to Josephine.
The anguish of death and estrangement always bring real relief to a romantic correspondence… ”
, continues the expert.
The letter of February 22, 1939, estimated between 3000 and 5000 euros, is the first to concern the rupture between Mitterrand and Langeais, between February and December 1939. Jean-Baptiste de Proyard
The two lovers met, through the intermediary of Catherine Langeais' brother, at the ball of the École normale supérieure in rue d'Ulm, in Paris, on January 22, 1938. She was a very young girl of 14 years old. Him, a man of 21. Love at first sight on the side of the future president, as evidenced by the 330 letters on sale today. The first kiss is exchanged in May, on a bench in the Luxembourg Gardens. A brief separation from February to December 1939 before their engagement in March 1940. Their story is superimposed on that of The Funny War. Mitterrand carried out his military service in November 1938, then was mobilized on September 1, 1939. His writings testify to his heartbreak.
"The war will be terrible and you are so small, so pretty, so lovely that it may be guilty of dragging you into such an adventure
," he wrote on January 23, 1940, then posted to the far western point. of the Maginot Line, in the 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiment.
Living with you, my beloved, is my only hope. "
Letter of May 10, 1940, first of 31 written during the campaign in France, estimated between 3000 and 5000 euros.
Jean-Baptiste de Proyard
For love, Mitterrand escapes
Wounded on June 14, 1940 in Verdun - the day the Germans entered Paris - Mitterrand was taken prisoner and transferred to Stalag IX A in Trutzhain, Hesse. Flooding his bride with fiery letters and feeling the gradual estrangement of the one he calls Marie-Zou, the young sergeant-chief tries to escape twice. The third attempt is ultimately the correct one. But his sweetheart broke up in January 1942.
“The last letter was dated December 3, 1941 (
“ Fatoune failed her second exit examination from the conservatory ”
). François Mitterrand writes it from a Stalag in Moselle, after the failure of his second attempt and a few days before the third, which will be the right one, thus avoiding the shipment to Poland which was reserved for him, ”
Piasa recounts.
To read also Catherine Langeais, doyenne of the announcers
The correspondence narrowly escaped destruction. Shortly after her break with François Mitterrand, Marie-Louise Terrasse married a Polish count, Antoine Gordowski, from whom she finally divorced in 1954, before marrying the journalist and television producer Pierre Sabbagh. When the latter died in 1994, the former lover, who had become an announcer, had work done in their apartment and placed the precious leaves in the street. These are finally recovered by a second-hand dealer, who takes the measure of what he discovers. His heirs are the holders of these letters, the price of which varies between 300 and 5,000 euros. The full lot is estimated between 300,000 and 450,000 euros. The catalog, also available on the site of Piasa and that of Jean-Baptiste de Proyart,has been exhibiting since November 22 at 118 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Unfortunately, none of Catherine Langeais's answers are known to the public today.
Caught in an ambush, soldier Mitterrand loses some of his mail, as his letter of May 18, 1940 tells us. Perhaps we will have the good fortune to discover them one day.
