Advertisement

Achille Claude Clarac

Advertisement

Achille Claude Clarac

Birth
Nantes, Departement de la Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France
Death
11 Jan 1999 (aged 95)
Oudon, Departement de la Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France
Burial
Nantes, Departement de la Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France Add to Map
Memorial ID
View Source
Achille Claude Clarac, also known as Claude Clarac (31 August 1903 - 11 January 1999) was a French diplomat.

Achille Claude Clarac was born on 31 August 1903 in Nantes, France.

He studied law and entered the foreign service in 1930. In 1934 he became embassy secretary in Tehran, where he married, in May 1935, the Swiss writer and photojournalist Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942). Until 1942 he was Consul of France in Tetuan.

Before the World War II he was employed in Washington, DC. From 31 March 1955 to 2 November 1956 he was French ambassador to Syria in Damascus. From 1959 to 1968 he was French ambassador in Thailand in Bangkok.

He was made "Chevalier" de la Legion d'Honneur in 1946 and promoted to "Officier" in 1953.

According to Schwarzenbach's biographers, Clarac was gay and theirs was a marriage of convenience for both of them, to have Schwarzenbach, who was lesbian, obtaining a French diplomatic passport enabling her to travel without restrictions. They were friends and when Schwarzenbach sustained a serious head injury and was dying, Clarac rushed from Tetuan to her deathbed in Engadin, but Schwarzenbach's mother, Renée Schwarzenbach-Wille, forbade everyone to see the daughter. Clarac adopted one son, Henri Pageau-Clarac.

In 1971, with Michael Smithies, he wrote Discovering Thailand, published with Siam Publications.

In 1973, under the pen-name of Saint Ours he wrote the gay collection of 7 stories, Un ange à Sodome (An Angel in Sodom), with the publisher Guy Authier.

Claude Clarac died on 11 January 1999.
Achille Claude Clarac, also known as Claude Clarac (31 August 1903 - 11 January 1999) was a French diplomat.

Achille Claude Clarac was born on 31 August 1903 in Nantes, France.

He studied law and entered the foreign service in 1930. In 1934 he became embassy secretary in Tehran, where he married, in May 1935, the Swiss writer and photojournalist Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908-1942). Until 1942 he was Consul of France in Tetuan.

Before the World War II he was employed in Washington, DC. From 31 March 1955 to 2 November 1956 he was French ambassador to Syria in Damascus. From 1959 to 1968 he was French ambassador in Thailand in Bangkok.

He was made "Chevalier" de la Legion d'Honneur in 1946 and promoted to "Officier" in 1953.

According to Schwarzenbach's biographers, Clarac was gay and theirs was a marriage of convenience for both of them, to have Schwarzenbach, who was lesbian, obtaining a French diplomatic passport enabling her to travel without restrictions. They were friends and when Schwarzenbach sustained a serious head injury and was dying, Clarac rushed from Tetuan to her deathbed in Engadin, but Schwarzenbach's mother, Renée Schwarzenbach-Wille, forbade everyone to see the daughter. Clarac adopted one son, Henri Pageau-Clarac.

In 1971, with Michael Smithies, he wrote Discovering Thailand, published with Siam Publications.

In 1973, under the pen-name of Saint Ours he wrote the gay collection of 7 stories, Un ange à Sodome (An Angel in Sodom), with the publisher Guy Authier.

Claude Clarac died on 11 January 1999.


Sponsored by Ancestry

Advertisement

  • Created by: Elisa Rolle
  • Added: Apr 29, 2016
  • Find a Grave Memorial ID:
  • Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/161866911/achille_claude-clarac: accessed ), memorial page for Achille Claude Clarac (31 Aug 1903–11 Jan 1999), Find a Grave Memorial ID 161866911, citing Cimetière Miséricorde, Nantes, Departement de la Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire, France; Maintained by Elisa Rolle (contributor 48982101).