Marie-Caroline Du Fresnay
| Marie-Caroline du Fresnay | |
|---|---|
 Marie-Caroline du Fresnay, daughter of Maria Du Fresnay and Honoré de Balzac-Author: Henriette GIROUARD-LUCQUIN (1865)-Maison de Balzac/French Ministry of culture | |
| Born |
1834 Sartrouville, France |
| Died |
1930 Nice, France |
| Spouse(s) | Louis Sabard |
| Parent(s) |
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| Relatives |
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Marie-Caroline du Fresnay is an ancestor of French writer and silent film director Guy Du Fresnay and French contemporary essayist and economist Philippe Du Fresnay. Born in 1834 in Sartrouville, France, and deceased in 1930 in Nice, she is the daughter of French writer Maria Du Fresnay[1] and of French writer Honoré de Balzac.[1] Her grandmother was the playwright and novelist Adèle Daminois (1789 – 1876)
Biography
In 1846, after his last lover Ewelina Hańska lost what would have been Balzac's only official child in a miscarriage, Honoré de Balzac decided to include the daughter he had in 1834[2] with his past lover Maria Du Fresnay in his will.
In 1850, upon Balzac's death, Marie-Caroline du Fresnay would inherit[3] a statue of the Christ from French sculptor François Girardon.
In 1955, the paternity link is confirmed when French journalist and historian Roger Pierrot meets with Maria Du Fresnay's grandson, Charles du Fresnay, who would confirm the real paternity of his aunt Marie-Caroline du Fresnay by showing the journalist evidences such as the Girardon statue and a dedicace of Eugenie Grandet by Honore de Balzac to his grandmother. Both items are currently on display at the Maison de Balzac Museum in Paris.[4]
Bibliography
- Antoine Adam, "Marie du Fresnay, fille d'Eugénie Grandet et de Balzac", Les Lettres françaises, No 632-648, 1956
- Gilbert Guislain, "Balzac", Studyrama, 2004 (page 81)