> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://theparnassian.com/en/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Colette with her third husband, the Jewish businessman Maurice Goudeket, in 1950, four years before her death
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/kolett-so-svoim-tretim-muzhem-evreiskim-predprinimatelem-morisom-gudeke-v-1950-za-4-goda-do-ee-smerti/
- Published: 2026-01-24T10:48:42.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:27:14.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Archive, Books, Mores, People

Maurice Goudeket entered the life of the French writer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette in the early 1930s, when she was already a national celebrity. They met through mutual acquaintances from literary circles. At first their association was rather a working one: Goudeket helped her with manuscripts, proofreading and correspondence with publishers, accompanied her to meetings and saw to similar matters. Gradually he became for her not merely an assistant but a close friend and constant companion. By the time they grew close, Colette was about fifty-eight and Maurice about forty-two, and the difference in age at once became a subject of gossip.

They married in 1935, having already lived together for several years. Their marriage differed from the earlier unions of the 62-year-old Colette. There was almost no drama in it, no struggle for influence, no creative rivalry. Goudeket did not try to direct her work; on the contrary, he created around her a space in which she could write and live at her own pace.

In her last years Colette's health deteriorated badly: she suffered from severe arthritis and gradually lost mobility. Maurice took charge of her care, becoming in effect her mainstay in everyday and emotional life.

But the hardest trial for the couple was the Second World War. During the German occupation of France, Goudeket, who was of Jewish origin, found himself in danger. In 1941 the Gestapo arrested him and took him away from his own home. Colette, despite her age and illness, immediately set about securing his release, using her connections and influence. After several months she succeeded in obtaining his return.

After Colette's death in 1954, Maurice Goudeket wrote a book of reminiscences, Près de Colette. In these memoirs he showed her not as a mythical figure but as a living person, with her habits, weaknesses, flashes of irritation, tenderness and humour. The book was received very warmly, because it was marked by a delicacy rare in memoir literature: Goudeket avoided sensation, did not reveal intimate details for effect and made no attempt to place himself at the centre of the story.

If at first their union was viewed by society with suspicion, many believed that Goudeket was taking advantage of the fame and position of the celebrated writer, and the difference in age was much discussed. In time attitudes changed. In literary circles he came to be regarded as a quiet, reliable companion who did not seek publicity and did not interfere in his wife's work.