Nelly de Vogüé
French writer and aristocrat / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Countess Hélène "Nelly" Marie Henriette de Vogüé (French pronunciation: [elɛn maʁi ɑ̃ʁjɛt də vɔɡɥe]; née von Jaunez; 28 November 1908 – 17 June 2003) was a French aristocrat, socialite, businesswoman, painter, and writer. She studied art at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris before succeeding her father as president of Haviland France, her family's ceramics company.
Nelly de Vogüé | |
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Born | Hélène Marie Henriette von Jaunez (1908-11-28)28 November 1908 Paris, France |
Died | 17 June 2003(2003-06-17) (aged 94) Paris, France |
Pen name | Pierre Chevrier |
Occupation | writer, painter, socialite, businesswoman |
Education | École des Beaux-Arts de Paris |
Genre | biography |
Spouse | Count Jean de Vogüé |
Partner | Count Antoine de Saint-Exupéry |
Children | 1 |
Parents | Maximilian von Jaunez (father) Jeanne de Montagnac (mother) |
Relatives | Édouard von Jaunez (grandfather) |
During World War II, de Vogüé was surveilled by the Allied Intelligence Bureau after her ability to move freely, using various aliases, between Allied and Axis territories raised suspicions. The Office of Strategic Services filed over seventeen pages in reports detailing their suspicion that de Vogüé may have been an agent of Vichy France and a Nazi collaborator.
She was the long-time mistress of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and was referred to as Madame de B. in his biographies and as The Beautiful E in the memoirs of Consuelo de Saint-Exupéry. Following de Saint-Exupéry's presumed death in 1944, de Vogüé became the executrix of his literary works and, under the nom de plume Pierre Chevrier, authored his biography in 1949. She published the posthumous editions of de Saint-Exupéry's manuscripts for Écrits de guerre, Citadelle, and Carnets. She submitted her collection of de Saint-Exupéry's writings to the Archives Nationales, where they will be privately held until 2053.