French ballet dancer and model From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary Meerson, née Marija Popowa, also known as Madame Langlois (12 November 1902, Sofia – 19 July 1993, Paris), was a French ballet dancer, model and archivist of the Cinémathèque Française. She was a companion and associate of Henri Langlois, the founder and director of the Cinémathèque Française.
Marija Popowa was born on 12 November 1902 in Sofia, Bulgaria.[1] She left her country traveling through central Europe and joined the Ballets Russes of Diaghilev in Monte Carlo and then in Paris.[2] Along with her friend Kiki, the muse of the Montparnasse, Popowa was painted by the best known artists.[3] In the late 1920s, she was a model for Giorgio de Chirico and Reisling.[4] In 1931, she posed as a model for the paintings of Oskar Kokoschka.[2] In the 1930s, Popowa was connected to the Parisian artistic milieu and was acquainted with Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Fernand Léger.[2]
She made a sensational entry into the world of cinema through her meeting with Lazare Meerson, Russian constructivist painter, architect, whose ideas revolutionized the design of cinema sets.[3] Popowa married Lazare Meerson.[5] She accompanied him to London where he suddenly died in 1938.[4] After his death, Mary Meerson met Henri Langlois, the founder of the Cinémathèque Française, and became his companion and closest collaborator.[3]
Meerson is known for short documentary Retour d'Henri Langlois à Paris (1968). She owned paintings of Picasso, Braque and Léger and sold them throughout her life to finance the Cinémathèque Française.[2] Meerson remained Langlois’ partner until his death in 1977.[6] After Langlois' death, Meerson continued his mission and considered that, Musée du Cinéma not only should become legal but also sponsored by the government.[7] She called herself "Madame Langlois".[4]
In 1982, her initiative resulted in the creation of the Cinémathèque de la Danse as a part of the Cinémathèque Française.[8] Meerson spoke Russian, Bulgarian, French, English, Italian, German, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, and Sanskrit.[2]
Mary Meerson died on 19 July 1993 in Paris, aged 90.[9]
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