Renée Massip (1907–2002)

Renée Massip, née Castaing, was born in Arette in the Pyrenees Mountains region of southwestern France, the daughter of two school principals. She attended the École Normale in Pau, studying history and literature. She married newspaper reporter Roger Massip and from 1931 to 1937, accompanied him on his assignments in Romania and Poland. In 1939, she became a journalist herself, and joined Havas, a French news and advertising agency. During World War II, she lived in Lyon. She worked for France-Soir and the literary section of Le Figaro. She was also the author of a dozen books published between 1945 and 1981, including two that won major awards: the Prix Alfred-Née of the Académie française in 1955 for La Régente, and the Prix Interallié in 1963 for La Bête quaternaire. She received the Prix de l'Académie in 1980 for her body of work. She was a member of the jury of the Prix Femina from 1971 to 1996.