Céleste Albaret (1891–1984)
Céleste Albaret is remembered above all as Marcel Proust’s devoted servant and, later, as a crucial transmitter of memories concerning the author’s final years. Her life reflects the class structures of early twentieth-century French society, yet it also exemplifies the extraordinary intimacy she attained with her employer, despite their entirely opposite positions within the social hierarchy.
Céleste Ginesty was born in Montgreleix, in the Cantal department, the daughter of a middle-class rural household. She married Odilon Albaret, who worked in Paris as a driver, delivering letters and parcels, including those to writers. Through her husband’s work, Céleste came into contact with Marcel Proust in 1913 and began running errands for him, including delivering letters, books, and medicines. After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, when Odilon Albaret and Proust’s valet Nicolas Cottin were mobilised, Céleste took over a permanent position in Proust’s household.
During the First World War, Proust’s seclusion and sensitivity to his illness intensified, and Céleste became his indispensable aide. She was not merely a housekeeper or servant but also acted as secretary, reader, messenger, and organiser of practical matters. She adapted seamlessly to the writer’s rhythm, which involved sleepless nights, dictation, and constant revisions of his manuscripts. Her service continued until Proust’s death in 1922.
After Proust’s death, Céleste Albaret withdrew from public life. She gave no interviews and did not publish memoirs, remaining loyal to her memories. It was only in the 1970s, with the literary Proust renaissance, that she agreed to collaborate with journalist Georges Belmont, resulting in Monsieur Proust (1973). The book became an important source for accounts of Proust’s final years and brought Céleste’s testimony to a wider audience. The book is not a conventional memoir but a perceptive and detailed account of Proust’s daily life, work habits, and character, offering scholars a unique and invaluable perspective on the author’s final years.
Sources:
Lettres 2022, pp.397,1173.
Albaret, Céleste. Monsieur Proust. Avec la collaboration de Georges Belmont. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1973.
Tadié 2000, pp.337,396,465,520,534,609-610,621-622,625,646,652.
Above: Portrait of Céleste Albaret. Standing on her left is her sister Marie Gineste, who also worked for a short time as an assistant in Proust’s household. Photographer: Unknown / Photocartes, c. 1915. Collection: Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), Paris, Department of Manuscripts, NAF 28334 (no 681). Digitally colourised print. Public Domain.