'The mystique of Marianne’ by K.J.S.Chatrath

Logo of the French Republic

Every country has a symbol, a totem, an icon, formal or informal but generally secular and universal. In India we have “Mother India” or Bharat Mata, with clear maternal overtones, which is supposed to embody everything that the country stands for. During India’s long struggle against the imperial foreign rule, the picture depicting the lady figure of Mother India in chains enthused innumerable Indians to make the supreme sacrifice for unfettering the chains of slavery thrust on our country. The Americans have chosen a rather queer symbol- a bald eagle. However, France, like India and quite a few other countries has a feminine symbol for the country- Marianne. There is a strange mystique about Marianne.

Bust of Marianne, displayed in the corridors of the Luxembourg Palace, seat of the French Senate, Paris.

Interestingly in French language, some countries are taken as feminine while others as masculine. For example while France itself is considered feminine, so also are countries like India (Inde), countries such as the U.K. (Royaume-Uni) and the United States (Etat-Unis) are considered masculine. The Germans talk of their country as their “Fatherland” but in French, Germany (Allemagne) is feminine. The French, famous for their logical reasoning, must be having an excellently plausible reasoning for this division, but I am not yet aware of it. Maybe it has something to do with the wonderful French way of celebrating the two sexes that God has made- Vive La Difference!

While the British are at times represented as John Bull and the citizens of the USA as Uncle Sam, these are not official. Nor is India’s symbolic ‘Bharat Mata’ official. The French Marianne is however all official.

Marianne is said to be a combination of two very common French names- Marie and Anne. It is said that the name Marianne was given a good 60 years after the French Revolution, though the symbol of a lady representing the Republic dates back to the Revolution. In Delacroix’s famous painting “Liberty Leading the People” she is shown as leading the French people.

Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix (1830), which celebrates the July Revolution (Original in the Louvre Museum.)

One finds the bust of Marianne in every French government office, school and mayoral office. The face of Marianne has been adorning the French postage stamps and coins till present.

Some of the earlier faces which have had the privilege of having been chosen to represent Marianne are the famous sex-symbol actress turned protector of animals, turned writer of her autobiography – Brigitte Bardot in 1969:

Brigitte Bardot

The bust of Brigitte Bardot as Marianne, 1969.

Bust of Marianne-Mireille Mathieu.

Another face of Marianne was the charming singer Mereille Mathieu in 1978.

Cathrine Denueve

That ethereal beauty – Catherine Deneuve was also Marianne in 1985

When the term of the face of Marianne came to an end, another face had to be chosen. God has been genuinely generous in distributing beauty and grace to every French woman. Of course this selection had its detractors too. While some of them felt that the time had come to move away from the conventional image of Marianne as a symbol of feminine beauty. While others argued that if the idea is to borrow the image of a famous woman, then why choose only a film actress or a model and why not the face of a distinguished woman from other fields like literature, politics etc. It is said that a good 95% of the male mayors defended their vote with vigour. And having seen the photographs of Ms. Casta, I whole heartedly agree with the learned Mayors and too would vote for her, anytime.

Letitia Casta - Marianne in 2000

marianne-inna-shevchenko 420 90 Inna Shevchenko- Marianne 2013.

In July 2013, Inna Shevchenko, the highest-profile member of the Ukrainian feminist protest group FEMEN, became the new Marianne on French stamps, after being granted political asylum in France.

Some young ladies representing Marianne with the traditional Phrygian bonnets.

Marianne statue in Mahe, India.

Let us wait to see who would be the next French beauty to represent the Marianne.

(With some text inputs & photos from the internet. This photo article was earlier put up on my website www.fiftyplustravels.com sometime back)

Those wishing for more information may like to see the following websites:

‘The French icon Marianne à la mode’ by Mary Blume; Published: July 16, 2004; http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/16/style/16iht-blume_ed3_.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marianne

http://awomansparis.com/2010/07/02/france-is-a-woman/

http://marianne-republicaine.over-blog.com/