Marguerite Yourcenar

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Belgian writer, classical scholar and the first woman to enter L' Academie Francaise. She was the only child of Michel de Crayencour and the former Fernandel de Cartier de Marchienne. Her mother died when she was less than one month old, and she received her education from tutors. By age eight she was reading serious works and in her teen years, published two small poetry books. Yourcenar wrote in her native French, and is best known for her fiction, especially " Memoirs Of Hadrian". Her other works includes essays , memoirs, and plays. She grew up in France and traveled widely, never having a stable home. Yourcenar decided to stay in the U.S., in early WW II, to teach comparative literature. She became a U.S. citizen in 1947, but was later reinstated as a citizen of France. While in America, she and her companion, Grace Frick, bought a house in Northeast Harbor, ME. They remained there for many years, before Frick's death in 1979. Yourcenar died at age 84 in her home, on 18 December 87. Link to Wikipedia biography