Portrait of Jane Dieulafoy by Eugène Pirou • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS / EUGENE PIROU Two Frenchmen, on their way to Susa, crossed Persia in 1885. One of them was called Marcel Dieulafoy, whom the French government commissioned to carry out excavations in this former capital of the Persian Empire. His companion, small and agile, covers his short hair with a pith helmet; he carries a rifle on his shoulder, is dressed in trousers and shod in boots, which would not be strange if it were a man. But it's a woman, Jane, Marcel's wife. An unconventional character Jeanne Paule Henriette Rachel, known as Jane, was born in 1851 into a wealthy bourgeois family settled in Toulouse, the Magres. She is the youngest of five daughters; the only male member of the siblings, the eldest, disappeared in Spain. Jane kind of grew up like that son his parents miss. At the convent of the Assumption of Auteuil, where she studied, she showed artistic dispositions. When she left in 1869, she began a relationship with a young engineer from the same city, Marcel, who had returned from Algeria. She married him in May 1870, shortly before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War. From the beginning of the conflict, Jane shows her indomitable character and little concerned with conventions:she does not hesitate to put on the uniform of a sniper to accompany her husband, who takes part in the fight as captain of engineers. This is the first time – to our knowledge – that she has worn men's clothing, which at the time was not only socially frowned upon, but also illegal without public permission. Jane asks for this permission, which is granted. She loves adventure and travel, and takes advantage of this permission:not only are men's clothes more comfortable than women's, but they also allow her to go unnoticed in Islamic countries, whose art and culture fascinate Marcel and Jane. Between 1873 and 1878, the couple visited Egypt and Morocco, but Marcel's interests were not those of an ordinary orientalist. He is in charge of the historical monuments of Toulouse and has as his superior the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc; this medieval art enthusiast, who restored Carcassonne, encouraged him to investigate the relationship between ancient Near Eastern art and medieval Islamic art. It was this interest that led the couple to Susa, a site that the Briton William Kennett Loftus had explored between 1850 and 1852. By mutual agreement with Jane, Marcel decided to leave his post as an engineer and embark on an archaeological quarry. Journey to the Orient Marcel and Jane begin their journey in Persia in February 1881. They embark in Marseilles and reach Persian territory after crossing Greece, the Black Sea and Azerbaijan. Once there, they decided that it was most practical to travel on horseback, which they did unescorted, and arrived in Susa in January 1882. Disguised as a man, Jane was able to cross regions where the presence of a horsewoman not wearing the veil would have caused an inevitable scandal. But she fools everyone, from thieves to the Persian ruler himself, Shah Naser al-Din, who refuses to believe her when she reveals to him that she is a woman. The first stay in this country highlights the many facets of Jane's personality, starting with her fearlessness. She has to face scorpions, tarantulas, mosquitoes, lice and fever. Once, she traveled a hundred kilometers alone to Tehran, on horseback and at night, in search of a doctor to treat Marcel. Jane is also developing her aptitude for photography, an art she pioneered, taking pictures of cities and their people, especially Persian women. Archaeologist, photographer and writer Her work goes beyond the picturesque or anthropological aspect:Jane photographs the monuments she finds on her way, images that will illustrate the five volumes of The Ancient Art of Persia , which Marcel published between 1884 and 1885. Finally, Jane revealed a real gift for writing. In Persia, she kept a diary which she later published in Le Tour du monde , a French travel magazine, which is a great success. Jane is one of the first writers of this genre, which she is not the only one to cultivate:later, and with equal success, she will write historical novels like Parysatis (1890), devoted to this Persian queen; the composer Camille Saint-Saëns turned it into an opera, for which Jane wrote the libretto. Back in Paris, Marcel's investigations earned the couple the support of Louis de Ronchaud, director of the National Museums. In 1884, the Dieulafoys returned to Susa, this time at the head of an official mission under the patronage of the Louvre Museum and the Ministry of Public Instruction. Two new companions join their expedition:Charles Babin, civil engineer responsible for accounting, and Fréderic Houssay, naturalist, who has the task of managing the transport of the discoveries packed in 215 crates to the Louvre. For his part, the shah authorized the excavations in exchange for part of what will be discovered, in particular gold and silver coins. The members of the expedition settled on the ruins of the ancient palaces of Susa and hired up to 300 workers. The excavations began in February 1885 and ended in 1886, with a break of a few months due to tensions with the local population, who believed that Christians were excavating the tomb of the prophet Daniel. Jane Dieulafoy receives the Legion of Honor Jane supervises the work and records the objects discovered, which date from the time of Darius I st (522-486 BC), ruler under whom the Persian Empire extended from the Indus to Greece. The first great find is a glazed brick frieze depicting ferocious lions which decorated the palace of Darius. After the discovery, Jane is in charge of the direction of the excavations in this area. A few days later appear fragments of columns which were to reach 21 m in height, surmounted by imposing capitals in the shape of a bull's head, also broken. Another day, the workers suddenly stop digging and start waving their arms nervously. They have just discovered the famous frieze of the Archers. Once the work is finished, around thirty mules and more than 40 camels transport the 45 tonnes of parts to the cruise shipLe Sané , which takes them to France. Once in Paris, Jane directs the restoration and installation of the friezes at the Louvre. Her celebrity and that of her husband grew with the inauguration of the Persian room of the museum (the Dieulafoy gallery), on October 20, 1886, by the President of the Republic Sadi Carnot, who decorated Jane with the Legion of Honor for her contribution at the Susa excavations. After her return from Persia, Jane will never wear women's clothes again. Neither she nor Marcel would return to Susa:they now turned their attention to Spain, which they considered to be "that other East" and which they visited 23 times between 1888 and 1914. Jane subsequently wrote a biography of Isabella the Catholic. In 1914, when the Great War broke out, Marcel enlisted as an engineer officer in Morocco. Jane leaves with him. In Rabat, she leads the excavations of the Hassan Mosque, but falls ill while struggling to improve the living conditions of the local population. She contracted bronchitis, ophthalmia, dysentery, and returned to France in 1915. She died at the Château de Langlade in May 1916, aged 64, while praying for the victory of the French armies in the bloody battle of Verdun. Find out more The Fabulous Destiny of Jane Dieulafoy. From Toulouse to Persépolis, the feminine adventure, by Audrey Marty, Papillon rouge, 2020. Timeline 1851 Jeanne Magre was born in Toulouse. In 1870, she married Marcel Dieulafoy and accompanied him in the Franco-Prussian War.1881-1884 She traveled to Persia with Marcel, without official support, and photographed ancient monuments.1884-1886 During an official mission to Susa with Marcel, she led the recovery of the Lions and Archers friezes.1916 Jane died on May 25, after falling ill in Morocco, where she had accompanied Marcel at the start of the Great War. A committed woman Returning from Persia in 1886, Jane Dieulafoy developed an intense intellectual activity as a writer, lecturer and journalist. She is one of the promoters of the prestigious Femina Prize, created in response to the refusal of the Goncourt Prize jury, made up of men, to honor the writer Myriam Harry; in 1904, she was a member of the jury for the first edition of this literary prize. Her image is characteristic:she wears trousers and an impeccably cut jacket, with an immaculate white percale shirt.
