Colette

Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born 28 January 1873 in France and built her career across multiple lanes: novelist, mime, actress, journalist. Early on she published under "Colette Willy," her husband's surname, before claiming the single name that stuck. Her 1944 novella Gigi gave her lasting reach beyond France — it became a 1958 film and a 1973 stage production. In France, her short story collection The Tendrils of the Vine held its own ground. She died 3 August 1954, having spent decades writing about women, appetites, and the terms of freedom.