BURIED TOGETHER
Partner Théodore Leclercq, buried together
Queer Places:
Père Lachaise Cemetery, 16 Rue du Repos, 75020 Paris, Francia
Joseph Fiévée (9 April 1767 - 9 May 1839) was a French journalist,
novelist, essayist, playwright, civil servant (haut fonctionnaire) and secret agent. He also
lived in an openly gay relationship with the writer Théodore Leclercq, with whom he was buried after his death.
Joseph Fiévée, who served Napoleon as a secret agent in London and Paris,
lived quite openly with his friend, the playwright Théodore Leclercq. The
two men had lived as a couple in England, Germany and in Fiévée’s official
residence when he was Prefect of the Nièvre. Far from being ostracized,
they were a very popular couple. They staged Leclercq’s satirical playlets
at their home in front of large and appreciative audiences. When he died
in 1851, Leclercq was buried next to his friend in the Père-Lachaise
cemetery. As Fiévée pointed out, ‘Any friendship that lasts more than
thirty years eventually becomes respectable.’
The art critic Delécluze reported the gossip after a performance at
Fiévée’s home in 1826: They were barely in the street when everyone
started talking about the male household of Fiévée and Leclercq. [. . .]
One of the gentlemen spoke about the air of decency that reigns chez
Fiévée and compared it with the liaison of the improvvisatore Sgricci with
his young stenographer. The difference between Leclercq and Antonio, he
said, is the same as the difference between a lawful wife and a mistress.
Fiévée has found a way to make it almost respectable!
Fiévée was born and died in Paris. The son of a restaurant owner, he
became a publisher during the French Revolution, most notably editing
La Chronique de Paris,,
a newspaper; it was here that he started his career as journalist, but
unfortunately incurred the suspicion of authorities who had him imprisoned
during the Reign of Terror. He was a member of the royalist network around
the Abbey de Montesquiou, and was forced to go into hiding during the
Directoire. While in hiding, he wrote his novel on changing times and
mores, La Dot de Suzette, which was a great literary
success.
From 1800 to 1803, he wrote a column for the Gazette de France..
He was again imprisoned in the Temple (Paris) by order of Joseph Fouché,
but he was freed at the request of Bonaparte. He became a kind of secret
agent for Napoleon, informing him of political affairs in France and
England.
From 1804 to 1807, he was editor in chief of the i>Journal des débats,
which became Journal de l'Empire.. He was ennobled by the Emperor;
was named "maître des requêtes" to the Conseil d'État in 1810; then
"Préfet" of the Nièvre départment from 1813 to 1815.
A supporter of Louis XVIII of France during the initial Restoration, he
was banished during the Hundred Days. Having become one of the
intellectuals of the "ultra" party and writer for the papers La
Quotidienne and the
Conservateur,, he eventually became more politically liberal after
1818. A strong supporter of the freedom of the press, he was sentenced to
three months of prison in the Conciergerie where Casimir Perier visited
him.
He became a contributor to the journals Temps in 1829 and
National in 1831.
JJoseph Fiévée married in 1790 (his brother-in-law was Charles Frédéric
Perlet), but his wife died giving birth, leaving him one child. At the end
of the 1790s, he met the writer
Théodore Leclercq who became his life companion, and the two would
live and raise Fiévée's son together. When becoming Préfet, Fiévée and
Leclercq moved to the Nièvre department, and their open relationship
greatly shocked some locals. The two men were received together in the
salons of the Restoration.
Both men are buried in the same tomb at
Père Lachaise Cemetery.
My published books:
BACK TO HOME PAGE
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fi%C3%A9v%C3%A9e
- Robb, Graham. Strangers: Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century
. Pan Macmillan. Edizione del Kindle.