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Graham Greene - Yvonne Cloetta Collection

 Collection
Identifier: GTM-GAMMS347

Collection-level Scope and Content Note

The Yvonne Cloetta — Graham Greene Papers consist of correspondence written by Greene to Cloetta between the years 1963 and 1987. In addition to the 121 letters and postcards, the collection contains a typed manuscript for the book An Impossible Woman: The Memories of Dottoressa Moor of Capri, edited and adapted by Greene and later given with an inscription to Cloetta. The manuscript includes extensive autograph additions and corrections by Greene. Along with the correspondence, there are a few scattered enclosures including three small photographs, a color slide, and two newspaper clippings. The letters written by Greene to Cloetta include news of his daily life, his work, and his travels. Many of the letters were written from far off countries such as Jamaica, Cuba, India, Argentina, and Panama. Envelopes are included for most of the letters, many of them addressed by Greene to himself at his own address in Antibes where Cloetta would receive them.

ABBREVIATIONS: ALS - Autograph Letter Signed TLS - Typed Letter Signed ACS - Autograph Card Signed

Dates

  • 1963 - 1987

Collection-level Access Restrictions

Most manuscripts collections at the Georgetown University Booth Family Center for Special Collections are open to researchers; however, restrictions may apply to some collections. Collections stored off site require a minimum of three days for retrieval. For use of all manuscripts collections, researchers are advised to contact the Booth Family Center for Special Collections in advance of any visit.

Biographical note

Graham Greene was born on October 2, 1904 in Berkhamsted, England. His father was Charles Henry Greene and his mother was Marion Raymond Greene. He married Vivien Dayrell Browning in 1927, and had two children, Mrs. Lucy Caroline (Greene) Bourget and Francis Greene. Greene, a prolific writer, is best known as a novelist though he also wrote plays, short stories, and non-fiction. He was on staff at The Times from 1926-1930 and held the position of Literary Editor at The Spectator from 1940-1941. During the 1930s he was on staff at Night and Day, and, in 1954, was the Indo-China correspondent for The New Republic. His career also included serving the British Foreign Office in Africa from 1941-1944, and being member of the Panamanian delegation to Washington for the signing of the Canal Treaty in 1977. Greene died of a blood disease on April 3, 1991 in Vevey, Switzerland.

Yvonne Cloetta was born Yvonne Guevel in Pontrieux, France and educated at the lycee in Quimper. She married Jacques Cloetta, a French consular official, in 1947. The couple had two daughters, Brigitte and Martine. Yvonne Cloetta and Graham Greene first met in Douala, Cameroon in 1959. In 2004, she authored the book In Search of a Beginning: My Life with Graham Greene. Cloetta died in 2001; she was in her 70s. [Biographical Source: Allain, Marie-francoise. The Independent (London, March 27, 2002).]

Extent

1 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Title
Graham Greene — Yvonne Cloetta Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Georgetown University Library Booth Family Center for Special Collections
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Georgetown University Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
Lauinger Library, 5th Floor
37th and O Streets, N.W.
Washington DC 20057