Titaÿna Explained

Titaÿna (real name Élisabeth Sauvy, 22 November 1897 — 16 October 1966) was a French journalist and writer. She is considered one of the most significant female reporters in the first half of the 20th century.^[1]

Biography

Sauvy was born in 1897 in Villeneuve-de-la-Raho in southern France. She was an older sister of the sociologist Alfred Sauvy.^[1] She moved to Paris, got married and very quickly divorced. She also started writing.^[2] The origin of the penname Titaÿna, which Sauvy was using, is unclear, though it is often hypothesized to originate from Catalan legends.^[1]

Between 1925 and 1939, Titaÿna was traveling around the world, mainly in Oceania, and at the same time she was reporting for Paris-soir. She also published a number of books based on her materials.^[3] Titaÿna received a license to fly an airplane, and is sometimes considered an aviation pioneer.^{[1] [3]}

Titaÿna met and interviewed, among others, Adolf Hitler (in 1936), Benito Mussolini, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and Hubert Lyautey.^{[1] [2]} However, at the end of the 1930s, her journalist career was already on the decline. After the German occupation of France in 1940 she took a collaborationalist stance. She was indeed accused in collaboration and after the war was imprisoned for about a year^[2] and left for the United States, where she lived until her death.^[1] Titaÿna died in 1966 in San Francisco.

In 1994, journalist Benoît Heimermann wrote a book about Titaÿna. The second edition was published in 2011.

Books

• Simplement, Paris, Ernest Flammarion (1923).
• La bête cabrée, Paris, Aux Éditeurs associés - Les Éditions du Monde moderne, collection "le roman nouveau" (1925)m preface by Pierre Mac-Orlan.
• Mon tour du monde, Paris, Louis Querelle (1928).
• Voyage autour de ma maîtresse, Paris, Ernest Flammarion (1928).
• Voyage autour de mon amant, Paris, Ernest Flammarion (1928).
• Bonjour la Terre, Paris, Louis Querelle (1929).
• Loin, Paris, Ernest Flammarion (1929).
• La Caravane des morts, Paris, Éditions des Portiques (1930).
• Chez les mangeurs d'homme (Nouvelles-Hébrides), Paris, Éditions Duchartre, collection "Images" (1931), photographs by A.-P. Antoine and R. Lugeon.
• La Japonaise, Paris, Nouvelle société d'édition, collection "Elles" (1931).
• Nuits chaudes, Paris, Gallimard, collection "Succès" (1932).
• Une femme chez les chasseurs de têtes (Bornéo et Célèbes), Paris, Éditions de la nouvelle revue critique, collection "La Vie d'Aujourd'hui" (1934).
• Les ratés de l'aventure, Paris, Éditions de France (1938). Éditions Marchially (2020), .
• Une femme chez les chasseurs de têtes et autres reportages, Paris, Union Générale d’Éditions - 10/18, collection "Grands Reporters" (1985), preface by Francis Lacassin), .
• Une femme chez les chasseurs de têtes, followed by Mes mémoires de reporter (inédit), Paris, Éditions Marchially (2016), .

Sources

• Book: none . Heimermann . Benoît . Titaÿna . 2011 . Arthaud . 978-2081254251 . fr.

Notes and References

1. News: Gaveriaux . Laura-Maï . Titaÿna, grande reporter, aventurière et libre avant tout . Slate . 10 July 2019 . fr.
2. Book: Heimermann . Benoît . La Femme pressée . 2020 . Éditions Marchialy . 9791095582571. 9–16 . fr., preface to Les Ratés de l'aventure.
3. News: Bellot . Marina . Titayna, le tourbillon des années 30 . Retronews . 4 June 2018 . fr.