Elsa Triolet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elsa Triolet
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| Born | Ella Yuryevna Kagan 24 September 1896 Moscow, Russian Empire |
| Died | 16 June 1970 (aged 73) Moulin de Villeneuve, Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines, France |
| Occupation | writer |
| Nationality | Russian, then French |
| Notable awards | Prix Goncourt 1944 |
| Spouse | |
| Relatives | Lilya Brik (sister) |
Elsa Triolet was a famous writer and translator. She was born in Russia and later became a French citizen. Her birth name was Ella Yuryevna Kagan. She was born on September 24, 1896, and passed away on June 16, 1970, at the age of 73.
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Early Life and Education
Ella Yuryevna Kagan was born in Moscow, Russia. Her father, Yuri Alexandrovich Kagan, was a lawyer, and her mother, Yelena Youlevna Berman, was a music teacher. Ella and her older sister, Lilya Brik, had an excellent education. They learned to speak German and French very well and could play the piano. Ella studied and graduated from the Moscow Institute of Architecture.
Becoming a Writer
Ella became friends with a group of artists called the Russian Futurists. Her sister Lilya was married to an art critic named Osip Brik, and through them, Ella met many interesting people. One of her lifelong friends was Roman Jakobson, who was a poet.
Ella loved poetry. In 1911, she became friends with a young poet and artist named Vladimir Mayakovsky. She was the first person to translate his poems into French. She also translated many other Russian poems into French.
Life in France
In 1918, during the Russian Civil War, Ella married a French soldier named André Triolet. She moved to France and changed her name to Elsa. Even though she was in France, she often wrote to her sister Lilya about feeling sad. She later divorced André Triolet.
In the early 1920s, Elsa visited Tahiti. She wrote letters about her trip to Viktor Shklovsky, another writer. He showed her letters to Maxim Gorky, a famous author. Gorky thought Elsa's writing was very good and suggested she become a writer.
Elsa's first book, In Tahiti, was published in 1925. It was written in Russian and based on her letters about Tahiti. She then published two more novels in Russian: Wild Strawberry in 1926 and Camouflage in 1928.
Marriage to Louis Aragon
In 1928, Elsa met a French writer named Louis Aragon. They fell in love and got married in 1939. They stayed together for 42 years. Elsa also encouraged Aragon to join the French Communist Party. During World War II, Elsa Triolet and Louis Aragon were part of the French Resistance, fighting against the occupation of France.
Awards and Legacy
In 1944, Elsa Triolet made history. She was the first woman ever to win the Prix Goncourt, a very important French literary award. She won it for her novel Le premier accroc coûte 200 francs.
Elsa Triolet passed away on June 16, 1970, at her home in France, from a heart attack. She was 73 years old.
In 2010, the French post office, La Poste, honored Elsa Triolet by issuing three special stamps with her image.
