Out of the shadows: 5 women whose fame was stolen by men

test1

French writer Sidonie-Gabriel Colette

Sidoni-Gabriel Colette - French writer of the early twentieth century. She has written about 50 novels that are still read all over the world. Colette had to go through a difficult path to prove that she was the author of the works, and not her husband, who published her books under his pseudonym, forcing the whole of France to believe that it was he who so talentedly expressed his thoughts on paper.


Willy conquered Colette with his simplicity, generosity and cheerful disposition. The first months she was happily married, but soon found out that her husband was a mean and petty womanizer. Gabrielle was at home alone, while her husband spent their last money on entertainment with women.

Willy realized that his wife had a writing talent during a joint trip to the sea. Gabrielle told a lot of stories about her childhood, and Willie persuaded her to write down the memories. In 1900, the book "Claudine at School" was released, but the cover was the name of a man. For five years, Colette wrote novels for her husband, sitting in a closed room, but once he decided to bring her husband to the public, and she instantly became the most popular woman in Paris.

The novels written by Gabriel made Willie rich and popular. He got himself many mistresses, and Colette threw one without a penny. She began to earn a living performances in the theater, and also continued to write books that are already published under his own name.


After Willy, Colette had two more marriages, and Colette found true love with her third husband, but World War II and occupation destroyed their family happiness. All the events experienced Colette turned into new stories. During his life, Colette wrote fifty books, four volumes of articles and many plays.




After the war, she received literary recognition and became the first female member of the Goncourt Academy.


You can find out more about this amazing woman in the biographical drama Colette, which was released on November 29. The writer has played Keira Knightley.

American artist Margaret Keane

Margaret and Walter Keane
Margaret Keane became famous for portraits of children and women with big eyes, but she had to prove her authorship in court.

Margaret met her future husband Walter Keane in 1955. She is an aspiring artist, he is an entrepreneur. Walter immediately realized that he could make money on the talent of a woman, and began to gradually sell her paintings, passing them off as his own. Upon learning that her husband assigned himself authorship, Margot was perplexed and demanded that the pictures be her name. But Walter convinced his wife that his scam had gone too far and that the revelation would lead to lawsuits. He continued to give out paintings for his own, reminding Margaret that a woman does not have a chance to become a successful artist.

In the mid-60s, Keene's paintings were bought for a lot of money. Margaret worked daily for 16 hours, and her husband enjoyed fame and fortune.

Having been married to Walter for 10 years, Margaret decided to leave him, promising that she would continue to write for him further. She went to Hawaii and there she was able to rethink the situation.


In 1970, Margaret Keane decided to tell the truth, but her confession led to a trial. The judge demanded that the former spouses draw a child with big eyes right in the courtroom. Margaret coped with the task, and her ex-husband did not even know how to hold a brush.
English physicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell


Since childhood Bell has been interested in science and at the age of 11 she passed exams for those who want to get a higher education. At the age of 24 she studied at the graduate school of the University of Cambridge and, under the leadership of Anthony Hewish, participated in the creation of an 81.5 MHz radio telescope intended for studying quasars (a source of cosmic radio emission). Jocelyn was responsible for analyzing information from a radio telescope and watched his work for weeks.

Analyzing data from the telescope, she noticed an unusual radio source. Later, the source was called a pulsar, and Bell became its discoverer.

The article on the discovery was published only a few months later, and the supervisor, Jocelyn, was listed as the discoverer.

The study changed modern astrophysics, and Anthony Hewish was awarded the Nobel Prize. The decision of the Nobel Committee caused outrage in the scientific world, because many of Bell's colleagues knew that it was she who deserved recognition.

Jocelyn Bell Burnell never won the Nobel Prize, but she did receive worldwide recognition. In 2013, her name was among the hundred most influential women in the UK.

French artist Marie Duval

Allie Sluper, comic character created by Isabel Emily de Tessier
Few people know that the creator of Ally Sluper, a popular comic character from the time of Victorian England, was Isabel Emily de Tessier, who worked under the pseudonym Marie Duval.

The Frenchwoman was an aspiring artist and actress when she met her future husband, cartoonist Charles Ross from the UK. He immediately realized that his wife’s artistic talent would help him leave a mark on history.

Allie Sluper is a city boy who lives carelessly and constantly runs away from creditors. The character was created for the working class of England, who saw him as a dodger who survived in Victorian slums.

For a long time, Charles Ross was considered the creator of Sluper, and only 150 years later it turned out that England owes the appearance of Ally Sluper to his wife.


The historian David Kunzle revealed deception. He argued that Charles Ross could come up with a character, but it was Marie Duval who drew him, which means she had to get all the fame.
German writer Margaret Steffin

Bertolt Brecht is called the founder of theatrical modernism and the great German playwright. But to whom he owes his success? It is believed that at least six plays helped Bertholt write Margaret Steffin, who was his muse for 10 years.


Margaret loved Berthold and helped him in everything, was near and did a lot of hard and ungrateful work that Brecht himself did not want to do. True, the writer never denied the contribution of a woman to his works and signed jointly-invented plays “In cooperation with M. Steffin”. Perhaps, if she wrote on her own behalf, it would be her who was considered the founder of theatrical modernism, but she voluntarily renounced glory, having decided that it was enough for her to be an assistant of the great Brecht.