Pierre de Coulevain

Jeanne Philomène Laperche, best know for her pseudonym Pierre de Coulevain, was a French writer, winner in two occasions of the Montyon prize. She was part of the jury of the Fémina prize, since its creation in 1904 until the 1920s. Her novels mostly autobiographical, making it difficult for the reader to distinguish between the writer and the character of the novel.

Her parents were hoteliers in rue de la Douane. In 1879, her mother, Madame Laperche, a widow, moved to Paris with her daughter Philomène and her son Paul, a lawyer at the Court of Appeal.

In 1882, Philomène married Jean Fernand Lafargue, a friend from Bordeaux, who had come to the capital for a literary career. He was a journalist in the Chamber of Deputies and novelist. He was secretary then vice-president of the Société de Gens de Lettres between 1893 and 1903, date of his death.

In 1898, Philomène published, under the pseudonym of Hélène Favre de Coulevain, her first novel, "American nobility", which was awarded in 1899 with the Montyon prize.

In 1901 she published her second novel, "Ève victoriouse", now under the pseudonym of Pierre de Coulevain, and was again awarded with the Montyon prize.

In 1903, after the death of her husband and mother, and the departure of her son René, admitted to the École forestière de Nancy, she decided to travel and regain her freedom. A few months later, her third novel titled "Sur la branche", appeared.
In 1906, a journal wrote during a trip of several months in England is published, "L'Île inconnue, mœurs anglaises". In 1908, in the book "Au cœur de la vie", she writes about Switzerland. In 1913 appears "Le Roman merveilleux", very marked by theosophy.

Her son René was killed during the 1914-1918 war, leaving a young widow and two little twin girls. From this date, the novelist did not publish anything. The children's book "L'Épreuve de Georges" was published post-mortem in 1933.

Jeanne Philomène Laperchedied on March 16, 1927 in Boulogne-Billancourt.