The dark affair has been going on since 2018, since Le Canard enchaîné revealed that investigations were open into the fate of several literary treasures. What exactly happened in the hushed comfort of the prestigious Jacques-Doucet Library, renowned for its collection of literary treasures?
Created in 1929 after the death of Jacques Doucet, fashion designer, collector and patron, it houses treasures of French literature from the last two centuries. Baudelaire, Verlaine, Apollinaire but also Aragon, Malraux or even Jean Echenoz… So many great French writers whose manuscripts and notes can be found in the library on the Place du Panthéon.
But this establishment, managed by the Chancellery of the Universities of Paris since 1972, hides more than literary treasures, as revealed by Le Monde in a survey published in 2022. In 2010, Jean Bélias, a renowned bibliophile, bequeathed to the library between 15,000 and 20,000 manuscripts. However, the management of this immense gift is not going as it should. No exhaustive inventory was made between 2010 and 2014. A contract would have been made with a bookseller to exchange books from the Bélias collection for others likely to enrich that of Doucet. Another would be commissioned to auction part of the collection. The deputy director of the library, Sophie Lesiewicz, who takes over the management of this bequest, was even seen by several employees leaving the library with bags full of books. The testimonies of certain employees of the establishment are overwhelming; they write a report to their supervisory authority and to the Ministry of Higher Education.
The case makes a lot of noise. The families of donors, such as the heirs of Francis Ponge, Nicolas de Staël or even Jean Delay are worried and even rebel. The general inspectorate of libraries is seized but no sanction is pronounced against the direction.
A climate of tension settles within the library following these denunciations. Le Monde reports that management recommends employees avoid contact with those who have sounded the alarm. The latter have been deprived of their personal keys since the report was sent to the chancellery and must now ring the bell to enter the library. At the same time, pieces from the Jean Bélias collection appear in public sales. Some lots are sold in the name of Marie-Christine Jacquot, the married name of Marie-Christine Lesiewicz, the mother of Sophie Lesiewicz, the establishment’s deputy director. The latter, who disputed the facts and said she was the victim of “harassment”, ended her life a few hours after the publication of the article in Le Monde.
Closed for eight months, the library reopens its doors to visitors on Monday June 19 “only by appointment and with a limited number of places: the first step in a necessary and expected transition phase”, can we read on the Twitter account of the establishment.
But the tensions did not disappear with the temporary closure of the library. “Bringing together the people who worked together until October 17 is to run a new dramatic risk”, confides Fabien Oppermann, provisional administrator appointed for one year, to the Parisian. According to the conclusions of the administrative investigation, he wants to start over with a brand new team, which the old people oppose. The latter are the employees who have revealed the disappearances of rare works and who consider themselves to be “whistleblowers”. Supported by many heirs, like the daughter of André Breton or Nicolas de Staël, they hired a lawyer to defend them.
The investigation revealed the presence of several documents from the Doucet library after a search of the mother of the former deputy director. The trial will be held on January 24, 2024. The library will now undergo a proofing, a complete and precise inventory to verify that all the pieces are present.
