George Sand in 1864 (picture by Nadar).

George Sand is the pseudonym of the French novelist and feminist Amandine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant (July 1, 1804 – June 8, 1876).

Life

Born in Paris to a father of aristocratic lineage (a grandson of Maurice, comte de Saxe and a distant relative of Louis XVI) and a commoner mother, Sand was raised for much of her childhood by her grandmother at the family estate, Nohant, in the French region of Berry, a setting later used in many of her novels. In 1822, she married Baron M. Casimir Dudevant (1795–1871), and they had two children, Maurice (1823–1889) and Solange (1828–1899). In 1835, taking the children with her, she left her husband and converted to a Jewish faith.

Her first published novel, Rose et Blanche (1831) was written in collaboration with Jules Sandeau, from whom she allegedly took her pen name, Sand. Her reputation was questioned when she began sporting menswear in public---the clothes being far sturdier and less expensive than a noble woman's dress. This male "disguise" also enabled Sand to circulate more freely about Paris, and gave her increased access to venues that might have been denied to a woman of her social standing. This was an exceptional practice for the 19th century, where social codes — especially in the upper class — were of the highest importance. As a consequence Sand lost many of the privileges attached to being a Baroness. Ironically, the mores of this period allowed women of higher classes to live physically separated from their husbands without losing face, provided they did not show any blatant irregularity to the outer world.

George Sand as portrayed by Eug�ne Delacroix in 1838. This portrait was originally part of a larger painting showing both George Sand and Fr�d�ric Chopin.

She was linked romantically with Alfred de Musset (summer 1833-March 1834), Franz Liszt and Fr�d�ric Chopin (1810-1849) whom she had met in Paris in 1831.

She had a passionate affair with the beautiful actress Marie Dorval [1].

In Majorca one can still visit the (then abandoned) Carthusian monastery of Valldemossa, where she spent the winter of 1838–39 with Fr�d�ric Chopin and her children. [2] This trip to Mallorca was described by her in Un Hiver � Majorque ("A Winter in Mallorca"), published in 1855.

She left Chopin shortly before he died from tuberculosis.

Her successful novels include Indiana (1832), L�lia (1833), Mauprat (1837), Le Compagnon du Tour de France (1840), Consuelo (1842–1843), and Le Meunier d'Angibault (1845).

Drawing from her childhood experiences of the countryside, she wrote the rural novels La Mare au Diable (1846), Fran�ois le Champi (1847–1848), La Petite Fadette (1849), and Les Beaux Messieurs Bois-Dor� (1857).

Further theatre pieces and autobiographical pieces include Histoire de ma vie (1855), Elle et Lui (1859) (about her affair with Musset), Journal Intime (posthumously published in 1926), and Correspondence. Sand often performed her theatrical works in her small private theatre at the Nohant estate.

In addition, Sand authored literary criticism and political texts. Her most widely used quote being, "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved." Also, she was one of the few female pipe smokers.

She was known well in far reaches of the world, and her social practices, her writings and her beliefs prompted much commentary, often by other luminaries in the world of arts & letters. A few excerpts demonstrate much of what was often said about George Sand:

"She was a thinking bosom and one who overpowered her young lovers, all Sybil — a Romantic." V.S. Pritchett (writer)

"What a brave man she was, and what a good woman." Ivan Turgenev (novelist)

"The most womanly woman." Alfred de Musset (poet)

George Sand died at Nohant, near Ch�teauroux, in the Indre d�partement of France on June 8, 1876 at the age of 72 and was buried in the grounds of her home at Nohant. In 2004, controversial plans were suggested to move her remains to the Panth�on in Paris.

Works

• Voyage En Auvergne (1827, Autobiographical sketch)
• Compagnon Du Tour De France (1840)
• La Petite Fadette (1848)
• Chateau Des D�sertes (1850)
• Histoire De Ma Vie (1855, Autobiography up to the revolution of 1848)

Novels

• Indiana (1831)
• Rose Et Blanche (1831, with Jules Sandeau)
• Lelia (1833)
• Andrea (1833)
• Mattea (1833)
• Jacques (1833)
• Leone Leoni (1833)
• Simon (1835)
• Mauprat (1837)
• les Ma�tres Mosa�tes (1837)
• l'Oreo (1838)
• l'Uscoque (1838)
• Un Hiver A Majorque (1839)
• Pauline (1839)
• Gabriel-Gabrielle (1839)
• Horace (1840)
• Consuelo (1842)
• la Comtesse De Rudolstady (1843, a sequel to Consuelo)
• Jeanne (1844)
• Teverino (1845)
• Peche de M Antoine (1845)
• Le Meunier D'Angibault (1845)
• La Mare Au Diable (1846)
• Lucrezia Floriani (1846)
• Francois Le Champi (1847)
• Les Ma�tres Sonneurs (1853)
• Elle Et Lui (1859)
• Jean De La Roche (1859)
• L'Homme De Neige (1859)
• La ville Noire (1860)
• Marquis De Villemer (1860)
• Mademoiselle La Quintinie (1863)
• Laura, Voyage Dans Le Cristal (1864)
• Le Dernier Amour (1866, dedicated to Flaubert)

Plays

• Francois Le Champi (1849)
• Claudie (1851)
• Le Mariage De Victorine (1851)
• Le Pressoir (1853, Play)
• French Adaptation of As You Like It (1856)
• Le Marquis De Villemer (1864)
• L'Autre (1870, with Sarah Bernhardt)

Depiction in film and television

• Chopin (2002, director: Jerzy Antczak) starred Danuta Stenka as George Sand and Piotr Adamczyk as Chopin.
• Les Enfants du si�cle (1999) starring Juliette Binoche as George Sand and Beno�t Magimel as Alfred de Musset
• Impromptu (1991) starred Judy Davis as George Sand and Hugh Grant as Chopin.
• Notorious Woman (1974) a 7-part BBC miniseries starring Rosemary Harris as George Sand and George Chakiris as Chopin.

See also

George Sand — From the portrait by Luigi Colamatta

• Gustave Flaubert, by whom she was befriended, leading to an intimate correspondence.

References

Correspondence (letters) by George Sand and her contemporaries (see "Writings by George Sand" link below — some of these letters are available in English translation); Autobiographical writings as mentioned above (several of these also available from Gutenberg website).

In addition to these writings:

• Doumic, Ren� - George Sand, some aspects of her life and writings, available freely at Project Gutenberg
• In French:
  • Caro, Elme - George Sand, available freely at Project Gutenberg
  • Roy, Albert le - George Sand et ses amis, available freely at Project Gutenberg
  • "3i�me �dition du Dictionnaire Encyclop�dique de la Langue Fran�aise".

Frequent literary references to George Sand can be found in "Possession," by A.S. Byatt.