Remembering Jenny Batlay: The Luminary Who Painted Stars and Wrote with Joy
The world of l’art de vivre à la française lost one of its most dedicated and luminous figures in March 2020 with the passing of Dr Jenny Batlay. A celebrated academic, an award-winning artist, and a devoted contributor to Le Francophile. Jenny Batlay was dedicated to sharing her passion for French arts, literature, and cultural dialogue.
Her daughter, Marcelline Block, perfectly summarised her passion: for Jenny, writing for this publication was “one of the greatest joys of her life.” Through her many contributions, her voice inspired and connected readers with the best of French cinema, cuisine, and literature, always with the keen insight of a true scholar.
A Brilliant Journey from Montpellier to Columbia
Born in Montpellier, in the South of France, Jenny Batlay’s brilliance was evident from an early age. Her commitment to French arts led her across the Atlantic in the 1960s. Jenny gained a PhD in French & Romance Philology from Columbia University in New York.
Dr Batlay’s academic career included teaching at some of America’s most prestigious institutions, including Columbia University, Princeton University, and Fordham University, and she was a longtime faculty member at the French Institute/Alliance Française (FIAF) in Manhattan. Her scholarly work, including her article on portraiture in “L’art du portrait dans Gil Blas”, demonstrated her ability to analyse culture with intellectual rigour.
The Artist’s Eye: Capturing the Celebrities
Jenny Batlay was equally renowned as a painter. Her talent emerged in her youth, leading to her first exhibition in Montpellier at age 12 and a subsequent exhibition in Paris at Galerie Marcel Bernheim when she was just 14. Jenny’s artistic career led to extensive exhibitions on both sides of the Atlantic.
Her medium of choice was the portrait, and her subjects were chosen from legends of the worlds of art and music, including:
- The cellist Pablo Casals
- The violinists David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin
- French icons like Maurice Chevalier and Charles Aznavour
Her artwork not only hung in galleries but also in significant private collections. Her artistic contributions also extended to book illustrations, further cementing her dual identity as both an artist and a literary figure.
A Voice for Feminism
Jenny Batlay’s commitment to French culture extended beyond the aesthetic. Inspired by Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex and the feminist movements of the 1970s, she courageously championed the “feminine voice” within the male-dominated academic world. While teaching French language and literature at Princeton University in 1977, she embraced the “derogatory” label of ‘feminist’ assigned by her male colleagues.
Dr Batlay compiled a reading list of French women authors, tracing the intellectual roots of feminism back to the medieval French poetess Christine de Pizan. She viewed the condescension of the “Old Boy Network” as an attempt to “neutralise our power,” and thanks to the support of her contemporaries, she stood as an “isolated bearer of a feminist torch in the underworld of Princeton University megalomanic all-maleness”.
The Beating Heart of Le Francophile
For our readers, Jenny Batlay’s most familiar legacy lies in the insightful articles published in Le Francophile. As an editor and author in it’s formative years her contributions spanned the breadth of French culture in her adopted country, proving her passion extended far beyond the academic.
Whether she was writing about the nuances of Haute Cuisine at Café Boulud, sharing a Film Review in her early piece “Rendez-vous in Paris” (1996), or reporting on the cultural events of her adopted city in her column, “Du COTE de CHEZ SAM, rubrique mensuelle des événements culturels new yorkais” (2000), her prose was always engaging and deeply informed. She made the world of high French culture accessible and joyful, enabling a sense of connection and appreciation among her readers.
Jenny’s Legacy
Jenny Batlay lived a life that beautifully fused her French heritage, her artistic impulse, and her commitment to education. She leaves behind a rich tapestry of scholarly work, striking portraits, and, most importantly, a legacy of writing that truly celebrated la belle France. She is survived by her daughter, Marcelline Block, who followed her mother’s footsteps as a professor and also contributed to this magazine.
Though the opportunity to meet Dr. Jenny Batlay personally never arose before her passing, those who have carried the torch of Le Francophile have only managed to scratch the surface of her impressive and multifaceted achievements. We are immensely proud of her contributions. Her insightful articles—and the deep passion for la belle France they contain—will remain a permanent and treasured part of the Le Francophile , ensuring her voice and her love for French culture will continue to resonate with our readers for years to come.
