George Sand, the woman that marched to her own beat, broke with tradition and carved out her own life is this week's featured lady on La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec a Hemingway.
Born in Paris on July 1, 1804, Amantine Lucille Aurore Dupin as she was known long before she went by George. As many of these stories go, her mother was a prostitute and her father only married her in the final weeks of her pregnancy. Luckily her grandmother on her father’s side, Marie-Aurore de Saxe took her in at her chateau in Nohant in the center of France.
Her grandmother was very wealthy, but rarely saw her father and her mother had very little time with her. Grandma Marie-Aurore kept her away from her mother until she was older. Her mother couldn’t compete with the money and her lifestyle she was being raised in.
At 16 after a long search by her grandmother for a husband she was married off to François Casimir Dudevant on September 17, 1822. He was 42 and two children came shortly after but the marriage wasn’t a happy one and François was happy to spend all her money and sleep with the household staff. In 1831 George left for Paris and met a group of writers including Jules Sandeau. The two began an affair and also wrote articles together under the name J. Sand.
When she wanted to use the same moniker to publish her book Indiana, Jules said no. At that moment George Sand was born. Growing up her grandmother turned her onto the writings of Rousseau, Chateaubriand, Aristotle and Shakespeare giving her an education few young girls received. When she arrived in Paris, she quickly found her voice and poured it out onto the page.
Of course, George Sand would become known more for her dressing like a man today. At the time in Paris, women were not allowed to wear men’s clothes and had to have a special permit to do so. Which George of course didn’t bother with. When she left her husband most of her money remained behind and it was actually much less expensive to purchase mens clothes and far more comfortable. Although, she didn’t wear men’s clothes everyday as so often depicted.
Her cutting edge thoughts about life were woven into all her writings. She believed women were responsible for their own happiness and the choices they made. Writing and publishing books at a record pace and was often criticized by other authors including Balzac who was also a prolific writer. Many thought a woman should have other things to focus on rather than their career. At just 27 years old, she was one of the most popular authors in all of Europe. Her books would even eclipse Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris. She would be one of the only authors of her time to be able to live off of the proceeds from her writing.
What George should be more known for after her writing is her long list of relationships, each with their own drama. In 1833, following her break up with Jules Sandeau she had a fast and intense relationship with stage actress Marie Dorval. The gossip in Paris spread quickly as they were both very famous women at the time. George would write a play for Marie to play the lead in but it lasted as long as their relationship, and both ended quickly.
Following Marie she met a fellow author Alfred de Musset and moved into her apartment on the Quai Malaquais next to the Institut de France. Alfred suffered from severe hallucination and breaks with reality. When the two took a trip to Venice he had an attack that caused him to lose all function to cope with anything. George called on a doctor to help him, Pietro Pagillo who she then began an affair with. Once Alfred calmed down he decided to return to Paris, leaving George with Pietro. George quickly followed him but with Pietro in tow, upsetting Alfred who was so upset he left for Germany. Their relationship would go back and forth for years followed with angry outbursts before they would fall madly back in love to only part again. By March 1835, the relationship was finally finished after Eugene Delacroix painted a portrait of her and asked why she looked so sad and she realized how their relationship had affected her.
In 1835, she had enough of her husband and was able to find a lawyer to attain a divorce, something not easy to do at the time. Her lawyer Louis Michel would also become her lover, in a long list of those to follow. On February 16, 1836 the divorce was final and Louis Michel moved into Sand’s apartment in Saint Germain. His wife wasn’t as fond of the idea and put down an ultimatum and Louis Michel returned home to his wife.
Her most famous relationship of all of them was with composer Frederic Chopin. In 1838 the two met and travelled to Mallorca for the winter. Chopin had many health issues and the cold windy winters and Paris were far too hard on his lungs. The two had a volatile relationship and frequently ended it to only return to each other at the same time tearing her family apart. Her son hated him, but her daughter Solange grew very close to him and drove a wedge between mother and daughter. In 1842 the two moved into a house on the Square d’Orleans near Saint George but at this point it was mostly a friendship and her role was more as his caretaker.
With all her challenges in love she would finally find her perfect match in 1849. Her son introduced her to Alexandre Manceau who was 12 years younger than her. His family was of a lower stature in society but she didn’t care, she finally found true love and friendship. Their relationship would last fifteen years until his death on August 21, 1865 when he would die of tuberculosis.
George would spend the rest of her life at her grandmother's former home in Nohant surrounded by her grandchildren. Her estranged relationship with her daughter was somewhat mended and on June 3, 1876 she invited her family to Nohant where she had been suffering from stomach pains she kept to herself. On Jun3 8, 1876 she took her last breath and died of an intestinal blockage.
Besides her writing she had many romantic adventures filled with drama and scandal. Today you can find her in the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Musée de la Vie Romantique but her presence fills the air of Paris to this day.
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