Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles was a Romanian-French writer
Background
Born Princess Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan in Paris, she was a descendant of the Bibescu and Craioveşti families of Romanian boyars. Her father was Prince Grégoire Bibesco-Bassaraba, a son of Wallachian Prince Gheorghe Bibesco and Zoe Mavrocordato-Bassaraba de Brancovan. Via her mother, Anna de Noailles is a great-great-granddaughter of Sophronius of Vratsa, one of the leading figures of the Bulgarian National Revival, through his grandson Stefan Bogoridi, caimacam of Moldavia.
Career
Personal life Her Greek mother was the former Ralouka (Rachel) Mussurus, a musician, to whom the Polish composer Ignacy Paderewski dedicated several of his compositions. The couple soon became the toast of Parisian high society. They had one child, a son, Count Anne-Jules de Noailles (1900–1979).
Anna de Noailles wrote three novels, an autobiography, and many collections of poetry.
She had friendly relations with the intellectual, literary and artistic elite of the day including Marcel Proust, Francis Jammes, Colette, André Gide, Frédéric Mistral, Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac, Paul Valéry, Jean Cocteau, Pierre Loti, Paul Hervieu, and Max Jacob. So popular was Anna de Noailles that various notable artists of the day painted her portrait, including Antonio de la Gandara, Kees van Dongen, Jacques Émile Blanche, and the British portrait painter Philip de László.
In 1906 her image was sculpted by Auguste Rodin. The clay model can be seen today in the Musée Rodin in Paris, and the finished marble bust is on display in New York"s Metropolitan Museum.
She died in 1933 in Paris, aged 56, and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery.
She was a cousin of Prince Antoine Bibesco and Princess Marthe Bibesco.
Membership
Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique.