Prince Antoine Bibesco was a Romanian aristocrat, lawyer, diplomat, and writer. “Antoine Bibesco is the only person who understands me,” wrote Marcel Proust in a letter published nine years after his death. “The phrase delighted me. But it imposes certain duties. For those who would understand the letters here presented, some explanation is necessary: primarily a geographical one. Marcel Proust lived at 44, rue de Courcelles; I at 69. One had only to know Marcel Proust slightly to realise that he was one of the most intelligent men in the world. When I first met him, his response was so charming that I felt encouraged to continue the acquaintance. This, since he was always at home, was easy.”*
Antoine Bibesco was born in Tours in 1878, the son of Prince Alexandre Bibesco and Princesse Hélène Bibesco (née Epourano). Through his mother’s Parisian salon, he encountered many artists of the time. Antoine and his brother Emmanuel grew up in Paris; Antoine was educated in both England and France, later completing studies in literature and law in Paris. In 1919, he married Elizabeth Asquith, daughter of the British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith.
Proust first met the Bibesco brothers in 1899, in the Paris salon of their mother, Hélène Bibesco, widow of Prince Alexandre. From then until Proust’s death in 1922, Antoine remained one of his closest friends. Bibesco was affectionately nicknamed Ocsebib, while Proust was Lecram. Prince Bibesco tried – unsuccessfully – to have Proust’s Recherche published in the Nouvelle Revue Française. Certain aspects of his personality also inspired Proust in shaping the character of Robert de Saint-Loup. Bibesco often spent evenings visiting Proust, who lived in seclusion in his apartment, bringing him witty and sharp commentary on the latest events in Parisian high society.
Bibesco began his diplomatic career in 1900, serving first as an attaché at Romanian embassies in Paris and St. Petersburg. Later, he worked as First Secretary in London and Washington, and from 1920 to 1926 he was minister plenipotentiary at the Romanian legation in Washington. Between 1927 and 1933 he held the same position in Madrid. In 1936, when the Romanian prime minister recalled all diplomatic staff, Bibesco faced the delicate task of assuring both France and Britain that Romania would not fall under fascist influence. From 1939 onward he lived in Romania. After the death of his wife in 1945 and the confiscation of his property by the communist regime, he returned to Paris, where he died in 1951.
In addition to his correspondence with Proust, Antoine Bibesco wrote plays, most of which are now largely forgotten. One of them, Ladies All, did, however, achieve a measure of success on Broadway in 1930. He also translated into French Noël Coward’s Week-End and John Galsworthy’s The Estate.
Sources:
Proust, Lettres, pp. 204-205,208-217,219-221,249-252,533-534,614-615,799-802,1118-1119,1122-1123,1182-1184,2022.
Tadié 2000, pp.44,101,210,381,378-385,395,624.
*Bibesco, Antoine, Letters of Marcel Proust to Antoine Bibesco. Translated and Introduced by Gerard Hopkins. London: Thames and Hudson, 1953, p.15.