Yola Letellier

Yola Letellier
Portrait of Yola Letellier c. 1929 by Man Ray
Born
Yvonne Henriquet

28 June 1904
Died5 June 1996(1996-06-05) (aged 91)
OccupationSocialite
Known forInspiration for Gigi by Colette
SpouseHenri Letellier
Partner(s)István Horthy
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

Yola Letellier (born Yvonne Henriquet (also spelled Henriquez or Henriques), 28 June 1904 – 5 June 1996)[1][2] was a French socialite and the wife of a newspaper owner.

Yola is widely credited as the model for the main character in Colette's 1944 novella, Gigi.[3][4][5] As such, she became the basis of a 1949 French film in which Gigi was played by Danièle Delorme; a 1951 stage adaptation by Anita Loos, in which Colette cast the as-yet-unknown Audrey Hepburn to play Gigi; and an Academy Award-winning 1958 musical film starring Leslie Caron with a score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.[6]

In the novella, Gigi is a teenager educated to be a French courtesan, to provide companionship and intellectual stimulation as well as sex, who marries an older wealthy man.[7] In real life, Yola married Henri Letellier [fr], 36 years her senior,[8] who was a wealthy investor, owner of Le Journal, a stylish Parisian newspaper, and mayor of Deauville from 1925 to 1928. Letellier's family also owned hotels and casinos in Normandy.[9]

Yola had affairs with other men, including one with Lord Louis Mountbatten, from 1932 until his death in 1979.[10]

  1. ^ Lownie, Andrew (2019). The Mountbattens: Their Lives & Loves. Kings Road Publishing. ISBN 9781788702577. Retrieved 1 September 2019.
  2. ^ Griffen, Mark (2010). A Hundred or More Hidden Things: The Life and Films of Vincente Minnelli. Hachette Books. ISBN 9780306818936. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  3. ^ Hicks (2014), p. 24
  4. ^ Tucker, Grant (18 August 2019). "Lord Mountbatten's 'lust for young men' revealed". The Sunday Times.
  5. ^ Aubenas, Sylvie; Chardin, Virginie; Demange, Xavier (2007). Elegance: The Seeberger Brothers and the Birth of Fashion Photography. Chronicle Books. p. 91. ISBN 9780811859424. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  6. ^ "Gigi Times Three". Love Letters to Old Hollywood. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  7. ^ Borrelli-Persson, Laird (8 April 2015). "10 Famous Courtesans, from Madame de Pompadour to Gigi". Vogue. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  8. ^ Hicks (2014), p. 169
  9. ^ Morgan, Janet P. (1991). Edwina Mountbatten: A Life of Her Own. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 227. ISBN 9780002175975. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Lord Mountbatten was "devastated" by his wife's affairs". Irish Central. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2019.