Rosemonde Gérard

Louise-Rose-Étiennette Gérard, known as Rosemonde Étienette Gérard (1871–1953) was a French poet and playwright. She was the wife of Edmond Rostand (1868–1918, author of "Cyrano de Bergerac"), and was a granddaughter of Étienne Maurice Gérard, one of Napoleon's marshals and a Prime Minister of France. [ [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosemonde_G%C3%A9rard French Wikipedia: Rosemond Gérard] ; [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rostand.htm Edmond Rostand.] ]

Gérard is perhaps best known today as the author of the lines:

bquote|"Car, vois-tu, chaque jour je t’aime davantage,"
"Aujourd’hui plus qu’hier et bien moins que demain."

(For, you see, each day I love you more,
Today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.) [Rosemonde Gérard, “L’éternelle chanson,” IX, "Les Pipeaux". 1890. —P. Dupré, "Encyclopédie des Citations", p. 176 (1959); "Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations". 1989. The entire poem appears [http://www.globalaging.org/elderrights/world/2005/eternelle.htm here] .]

jeweler, Alphonse Augis, had the idea of making a medallion with the core portion of the verse engraved on it. [ [http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/369/aujourd-hui-plus-qu-hier-et-bien-moins-que-demain/ L’Internaute: Aujourd’hui plus qu’hier et bien moins que demain.] ] The medallions became quite popular, and led to the production of other, similarly-decorated jewelry items, such as earrings and matchboxes; many older examples include Augis' name. A very common variation on the design presents the line with the words "plus" and "moins" replaced by the mathematical + and − signs, respectively. The mathematical signs are frequently rendered in tiny gemstones, often in contrasting colors. [ [http://www.adin.be/en/explanation-on-plus-qu-hier-moins-que-demain-by-adin-antique-vintage-and-estate-jewelry.htm Adin antique jewelry: Plus qu'hier et moins que demain] .]

Among Gérard's other works is the play “A Good Little Devil” (1913), co-written with Rostand. [ [http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=8494 IBDB: Rosemonde Gerard.] ] It was made into a movie of the same name in 1914. Mary Pickford starred in both the play and the movie; she later opined that the movie was one of the worst—if not the worst—she had ever made. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0004027/ IMDB: A Good Little Devil.] ]

Gérard and Rostand were married on April 8, 1890; [ [http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/rostand.htm Edmond Rostand] .] they had two sons, Maurice (1891–1968) and Jean Rostand (1894–1977). In later years, Gérard and Maurice Rostand frequented an intellectual circle that included Jean-Paul Sartre and Gilbert Martineau.

It has been said that Gérard "doubtless would have been famous had not her husband's star so far eclipsed her own." [ [http://www.theatrehistory.com/french/rostand001.html Theatrehistory.com: Edmond Rostand.] ] After 35 years of widowhood, she died in 1953 and is buried at Cimetiere de Passy, in Paris, as is her son Maurice. [ [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7165 Find A Grave: Rosemonde Gerard.] ]

Works

*"Les Pipeaux" (The (Reed-)Pipes), poems, 1889/90
*"Les Vieux", interpreted by Sarah Bernhard in 1903
*"Un bon petit Diable" (A Good Little Devil), with Maurice Rostand, 1912
*"La Marchande d'allumettes" (The Candle Seller), with Maurice Rostand (lyrics) and Tiarko Richepin (music), comic opera, 1914
*"La Robe d'un soir", 1925
*"La Vie amoureuse de Madame de Genlis", 1926
*"L'Arc-en-ciel" (The Rainbow), poems, 1926
*"Mes souvenirs: Cyrano de Bergerac", with a design from Edmond Rostand, 1927
*"Le Féminisme" (Feminism), with her son Maurice Rostand, conference, 1930
*"La Forêt enchantée" (The Enchanted Forest), with Maurice Rostand, theater piece, 1931
*"Les Papillotes" (wrapped candies), one-act in verse, 1931
*"Féeries" (Fairies), 1933
*"Les Masques de l'amour", theater in verse, 1928
*"La Tour Saint-Jacques" (St. James Tower), theater in verse, 1928
*"Les Papillotes", theater in verse, 1928
*"À quoi rêvent les vieilles filles" (What Do Old Girls Dream Of), theater in verse, 1928
*"La Tour Saint-Jacques", one-act in verse, 1934
*"Edmond Rostand", 1935
*"Rien que des chansons" (Nothing But Songs), 1939
*"Les Muses françaises" (The French Muses), poems, 1943
*"Méditations poétiques et harmonies poétiques de Victor Hugo", sonnet, preface by Rosemonde Gérard, 1930
*"Histoire d'amour et Lettre de rupture", two songs by Rosemonde Gérard and Tiarko Richepin, registered by Jeanne Aubert in 1942

References