Colette Colette Colette (; Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954) was a French mime, actress, journalist and novelist, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. Colette was widely known for her 1944 novella "Gigi" (1944), which subsequently was the basis for the film and Lerner and Loewe stage production of the same name. The writer was the subject of numerous biographies, songs, and films, including 2018's "Colette". Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette was born on January 28, 1873, to war hero and tax collector Jules-Joseph Colette and his wife Adèle Eugénie Sidonie ("Sido"), "née" Landoy, in the village of
Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (28 November 1685 – 29 December 1755) was a French author influenced by Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and various précieuse writers. Villeneuve is particularly noted for her original story of "La Belle et la Bête", which is the oldest known variant of the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast". Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve was born and died in Paris, but belonged to a powerful Protestant family from La Rochelle. She was the descendant of the notable Amos Barbot who was a Peer of France and a Deputy of the Estates General in 1614. His