Suzanne Renaud – Lettres à Suzon / Dopisy Suzon (1947-1963)

The poet Suzanne Renaud sent nearly all of these 45 letters from Petrkov, the Bohemian village where she lived with the Czech engraver Bohuslav Reynek from 1936, to her niece Suzanne, nicknamed Suzon, the eldest daughter of her sister Marcelle, whom, because of political events, she never saw again after 1947. Censorship and modesty prevented Renaud from freely writing about her daily life. The few times she mentioned herself, it was with a dash of humour to resist the Communist regime’s oppression with dignity. Written in her beautiful poetic language, the letters are a source of biographical and literary information. They provide insight into the personality of Renaud, whose thoughts silently distil wisdom. Few of Suzon’s replies have been found, so Souvenirs de famille [Family Memories] by Magali Robert, her sister, accompanied by documents, echo the letters to enrich the backdrop of this epistolary connection and shed light on the context.