Diane de Margerie
Diane Jacquin de Margerie (24 December 1927 – 25 August 2023) was a French woman of letters and translator from English.
Diane de Margerie
25 August 2023 (aged 95)
Saint-Maixme-Hauterive Cemetery
Dominique Fernandez (divorced)
Biography[edit]
Diane de Margerie was the daughter of Jenny Fabre-Luce (1896–1991) and Roland de Margerie[1] (1899–1990). Her father was the nephew of writer Edmond Rostand and the cousin of Gérard Mante, who married Marcel Proust's niece. Her mother was loved by Rainer Maria Rilke.
Diane de Margerie was Bertrand de Margerie's sister (1923–2003), a Jesuit and theologian, and Emmanuel de Margerie (1924–1991), ambassador of France to the United States.
Margerie first married Prince Ricardo Pignatelli della Leonessa (1927–1985). A son was born in 1952, Fabrizio Pignatelli della Leonessa. She married in second marriage the writer Dominique Fernandez; the couple had a son, Ramon Fernandez, and a daughter, Laetitia Fernandez.
A novelist, literary critic, short story writer, biographer, translator, de Margerie is the author of a diverse work.
Once a member of the Prix Femina jury, she received several awards. She lived in China and Italy.
Her work leaves much room for autobiography. In La Femme en pierre (1989), de Margerie celebrates the Chartres Cathedral, the city where she lived. With Isola, Retour des îles Galapagos, she recounts, in a poetic style, her impressions of travel.
Diane de Margerie died in Paris on 25 August 2023, at the age of 95.[2]