Isabelle Rivière (1889–1971)

Isabelle Rivière, née Fournier, was born in La Chapelle-d'Angillon in the Cher départment of central France to parents who were both teachers. Her older brother became famous as a novelist and soldier under the pen name Alain-Fournier. Isabelle attended the Lycée de Moulins, where she was considered a brilliant student, and then went to Paris to continue her studies. In 1909, she married Jacques Rivière, a writer, critic, and later editor of the magazine La Nouvelle Revue Française, with whom she had two children. After her husband's death in 1925, she taught for a few years at the Alliance Française, then devoted herself to the memories of her husband and her brother, who had disappeared in World War I. Eventually she published all the unpublished works they had left behind, including all their correspondence. She also wrote several biographical books, including Le Bouquet de roses rouges (1935), Images d'Alain Fournier (1938), Jacques Rivière (1952), and Vie et passion d'Alain-Fournier (1963). Her son Alain Rivière wrote a book about her entitled Isabelle Rivière ou la Passion d'aimer (Isabelle Rivière or the Passion of Loving, 1989).