François MITTERRAND - Long signed autograph letter.

François Mitterrand (1916.1996)

Autograph letter signed to Marie-Louise Terrasse, known as Catherine Langeais.

Two pages in 8° on blue paper.

[Meuse, near Stenay]. January 26, 1940.

« We must immerse ourselves in our solitude which our dreams try to fill. »

Mitterrand imagines his future home and his children born of love.

“I think of you, my darling, as your letter of the 23rd represents you. You're cold, darling, and you still write to me that you love me instead of rushing to find some comfort, buried in your bed. How delicious you must be, how delicious you are like this; how I would like to be close to you, too, to take away your sweet warmth, your perfume and the flavor of your kisses. Think my Marizou that every evening like this I come to find you, think that one day soon I will come to find you and take you forever. This is the leitmotif of my thoughts, of my hope; each of your letters brings me a little of your love, brings me a supply of happiness for 24 hours. So what will it be like when nothing separates us? I receive your letters in the evening; about an hour later, I answer you, before going to bed. Our letters are like the prelude to our conversations before the night, all of tenderness and love. And then, we must plunge back into our solitude which our dreams try to fill. But a day will come, my darling Zou, when we will be married, when these words and these confessions will only be the beginning of an even more complete happiness. Each of my caresses, my beloved, will be an act of adoration. You will not cease to be my goddess and yet, my delicious catch, what power will be mine, what incomparable sensation of strength, when in my arms you will be nothing more than my abandoned little girl.

Sometimes I'm surprised to talk to you like that. Aren't you too little to hear these words of love? But I love you. What should I keep silent? I feel that with you everything is easy and beautiful. And I tell you my love as it is. Love? What desire for possession of the whole being, body and soul, he expresses! This is where we distinguish true love from false love. A desire that nothing, not even time, can wear away, but a crazy, intractable, absolute desire. Does it bother you, darling, to be loved like this and to hear it repeated so often? Answer me…

My day was calm; on duty in the village, I did not go out. I read a bit of La Fleur qui chante, very endearing [a novel by André Beucler, published in January 1939]. This evening with your letter, I received one from Fr. Dalle, one from my sister Marie-Josèphe, one from the Father director of 104 and above all I stirred up our memories.

You tell me about our home, your new home. This prospect moves me. Having you mine all the time. Live only for you. You also talk about our children. You can't imagine how much this troubles me. I believe that I would love our children even more because they will be ours, because they will be the expression of our love, because they will have come from you, my beloved, than for themselves. I love you so.

Before finishing each of these letters, I always feel a little of that sadness that gripped me before really leaving you. I could still take away the memory, almost the taste of our last kiss which allowed me to bear your absence until the next day! Fortunately I have your letters. They are my only joy.

Honey, I hope you suffer less from your rheumatism. Don't be too cold either. It might be -20°, we won't care about the cold when you can snuggle up against me. Ah! Let this war end. Let us not forget, my beloved, to pray well, to hope, to love ourselves madly to ward off this evil around us. Francis. »

Catherine Langeais (1923.1998), whose real name is Marie-Louise Terrasse, met François Mitterrand on January 28, 1938, during the École Normale Supérieure ball, with whom, although only 15 years old, she became engaged. Mitterrand wrote more than 300 letters to the woman he nicknamed Zou.