Mary Meerson

Mary Meerson, née Marija Popowa, also known as Madame Langlois (12 November 1902, Sofia – 19 July 1993, Paris), was a French ballet dancer, model and archivist of the Cinémathèque Française. She was a companion and associate of Henri Langlois, the founder and director of the Cinémathèque Française.

Life

Marija Popowa was born on 12 November 1902 in Sofia, Bulgaria.^[1] She left her country traveling through central Europe and joined the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev in Monte Carlo and then in Paris.^[2] Along with her friend Kiki, the muse of the Montparnasse, Popowa was painted by the best known artists.^[3] In the late 1920s, she was a model for Giorgio de Chirico and Reisling.^[4] In 1931, she posed as a model for the paintings of Oskar Kokoschka.^[2] In the 1930s, Popowa was connected to the Parisian artistic milieu and was acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger.^[2]

She made a sensational entry into the world of cinema through her meeting with Lazare Meerson, Russian constructivist painter, architect, whose ideas revolutionized the design of cinema sets.^[3] Popowa married Lazare Meerson.^[5] She accompanied him to London where he suddenly died in 1938.^[4] After his death, Mary Meerson met Henri Langlois, the founder of the Cinémathèque Française, and became his companion and closest collaborator.^[3]

Meerson is known for short documentary Retour d'Henri Langlois à Paris (1968). She owned paintings of Picasso, Braque and Léger and sold them throughout her life to finance the Cinémathèque Française.^[2] Meerson remained Langlois’ partner until his death in 1977.^[6] After Langlois' death, Meerson continued his mission and considered that, Musée du Cinéma not only should become legal but also sponsored by the government.^[7] She called herself "Madame Langlois".^[4]

In 1982, her initiative resulted in the creation of the Cinémathèque de la Danse as a part of the Cinémathèque Française.^[8] Meerson spoke Russian, Bulgarian, French, English, Italian, German, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, and Sanskrit.^[2]

Mary Meerson died on 19 July 1993 in Paris, aged 90.^[9]

References

1. Orner, Esther (4 December 2017). "Le Pot-au-feu de Mary Meerson". Kef Israël (in French). Retrieved 20 October 2020.
2. "Il était une fois l'incroyable Mary Meerson". Libération.fr (in French). 2005-04-08. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
3. "LE POT-AU-FEU DE MARY MEERSON". Librairie du temple (in French). Retrieved 2020-10-20.
4. "Journal of Film Preservation Volume XXII N° 47 october / octobre 1993". 30 June 1997. Archived from the original on 30 June 1997. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
5. "Mary Meerson (19..-1993)". data.bnf.fr. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
6. "A Magnificent Obsession: Henri Langlois and the Cinémathèque Française: Block Museum - Northwestern University". blockmuseum.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
7. "«О, Наум, сколько воспоминаний…» | Colta.ru". colta.ru. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
8. "Dance and Film: Wigman to Cunningham | BAMPFA". bampfa.org. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
9. "Mary Meerson". BFI. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2020.

External links

• Mary Meerson at IMDb