Occupation Poet and novelist Role Poet Nationality French | Signature Libretti Promethee Name Jean Lorrain | |
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Born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval9 August 1855Fecamp, France ( 1855-08-09 ) Notable works Monsieur de PhocasPrincesses d'ivoire et d'ivresseHistoires de masques Died June 30, 1906, Fecamp, France Books Monsieur de Phocas, La maison Philibert | ||
Jean Lorrain (9 August 1855 in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime – 30 June 1906), born Paul Alexandre Martin Duval, was a French poet and novelist of the Symbolist school.
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Lorrain was openly gay and a dedicated disciple of dandyism. He contributed to the satirical weekly Le Courrier français, and wrote a number of collections of verse, including La forêt bleue (1883) and L'ombre ardente, (1897). He is also remembered for his Decadent novels and short stories, such as Monsieur de Phocas (1901), Monsieur de Bougrelon (1897), and Histoires des masques (1900), as well as for one of his best stories, Sonyeuse, which he linked to portraits exhibited by Antonio de La Gándara in 1893. He also wrote the libretto to Pierre de Bréville's opera Éros vainqueur (1910).
Duel
During his life, Marcel Proust never openly admitted to his homosexuality, though his family and close friends either knew or suspected it. In 1897, he even fought a duel with Lorrain, who had publicly questioned the nature of Proust's relationship with Lucien Daudet. (Both duelists survived.) Despite Proust's own public denial, his romantic relationship with composer Reynaldo Hahn, and his infatuation with his chauffeur and secretary, Alfred Agostinelli, are well documented.