Rachilde

Rachilde was the pen name of Marguerite Vallette-Eymery (1860–1953), a French novelist and playwright associated with Symbolism and Decadence. Her writing often explored gender, desire, power, and identity in unsettling and imaginative ways.

Her best-known works include Monsieur Vénus (1884), La Marquise de Sade (1887), and La Jongleuse (1900). She also wrote Pourquoi je ne suis pas féministe (Why I am not a Feminist, 1928), a controversial reflection on gender and society.

In 1889, she married Alfred Valette, and together they founded Le Mercure de France. Rachilde became a central figure in Paris’s literary world, hosting a celebrated salon and supporting writers including Alfred Jarry.