Gisèle Lestrange

Who was Gisèle Lestrange?

Gisèle Lestrange or Gisèle de Lestrange, and after marriage, Gisèle Celan-Lestrange, was a French graphic artist.

Born in Paris, she studied drawing and painting at the Académie Julian in Paris from 1945 to 1949, and then etching at the Atelier Friedlaender, in Paris, from 1954 to 1957. She became a well-known engraver, working for the atelier Lacourière-Frélaut in Paris as of 1964. Her father, a known supporter of the Vichy regime, died in 1943.

On 21 December 1952 she married the poet Paul Celan, whom she had met in November 1951. The couple had two sons, Francois, who died immediately after birth, and Eric. As of 1967, however, she and Celan lived in separate homes.

As a graphic artist, she illustrated the works of a number of well-known poets. Many of her works are linked to the poems of Paul Celan.

She died in Paris, and was buried in the same grave as her husband, at Cimetière parisien de Thiais.