Vanessa Springora
{{short description|French writer and publisher (born 1972)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vanessa Springora
| image = Vanessa Springora (2022)VI.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Vanessa Springora (2022)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|03|16|df=yes}}{{Cite web |last=Bachat |first=Sophie |date=10 January 2020 |title=Vanessa Springora ou les mots qui délivrent |url=https://www.causeur.fr/vanessa-springora-le-consentement-metoo-171123 |website=Causeur |language=fr}}She writes in Consent (p.43-44) the coincidence between her birthday and the beginning of the Gabriel Matzneff novel Nous n'irons plus au Luxembourg — first edited by Table ronde in 1972 —, which she bought and read not long after they met.
| birth_place = Paris, France
| death_date =
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation = Publisher, writer, film director
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works = Consent
| alma_mater = La Sorbonne
}}
Vanessa Springora (born 16 March 1972) is a French publisher, writer and film director. She is the author of the memoir Consent, describing sexual abuse she experienced beginning at age 14 from author Gabriel Matzneff, then 49. The book became a bestseller and prompted changes to the French age of consent.
Early life
Born and raised in Paris by her mother,{{Cite book|last=Springora|first=Vanessa|url=https://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb45865102z|title=Le consentement|date=2020|publisher=Bernard Grasset|isbn=978-2-246-82269-1|location=Paris}} Springora studied at the collège Jacques-Prévert, and later the lycée Fénelon in Paris, before taking a Diplôme d'études approfondies in Modern Literature at the Sorbonne University.{{Cite web|title=Vanessa Springora prend la tête des éditions Julliard|url=https://actualitte.com/article/10208/edition/vanessa-springora-prend-la-tete-des-editions-julliard|access-date=2021-01-12|website=ActuaLitté.com|language=fr-FR}}
Career
In 2003 Springora began working at the Institut national de l'audiovisuel as a writer and director, before joining the publisher Éditions Julliard in 2006 as an editorial assistant. She has written and directed for the screen, with titles including the film Dérive (2006) and the television series Quotidien (2016).{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} In 2019, she was appointed head of Éditions Julliard.{{Cite web|title=Bernard Barrault et Betty Mialet quittent Julliard|url=https://www.livreshebdo.fr/article/bernard-barrault-et-betty-mialet-quittent-julliard|access-date=2021-01-12|website=Livres Hebdo|language=fr}}
= ''Consent'' =
In early January 2020, Springora published Le Consentement ({{langx|fr|Consent}}),{{Cite book|url=https://www.grasset.fr/livres/le-consentement-9782246822691|title="Le consentement", Vanessa Springora|date=2020-12-02|language=fr}} a memoir in which she describes how, from the age of 14, she was groomed and sexually abused by the author Gabriel Matzneff, who was then 49.{{Cite news|last=Chrisafis|first=Angelique|date=2019-12-27|title=French publishing boss claims she was groomed at age 14 by acclaimed author|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/27/french-publishing-boss-claims-she-was-groomed-at-age-14-by-acclaimed-author|access-date=2021-01-12|work=The Guardian|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2020-01-12|title=Explosive Book Alleging Underage Sexual Relationship With French Writer Prompts Outcry|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/explosive-book-alleging-underage-sexual-relationship-with-french-writer-prompts-outcry_n_5e1b36e7c5b650c621e03a2a|access-date=2021-01-12|website=HuffPost|language=en}} In the memoir, she describes herself as a vulnerable teenager of divorced parents who first met Matzneff when she was 13. The book describes how Matzneff actively pursued her by writing her letters, waiting for her outside her school, and following her in the street. Springora's memoir met with critical and commercial success, quickly becoming a bestseller.{{Cite news|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=2020-01-07|title=A Victim's Account Fuels a Reckoning Over Abuse of Children in France|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/07/world/europe/france-pedophilia-gabriel-matzneff.html|access-date=2021-01-15|issn=0362-4331}} It also sent shockwaves through the French publishing world, since it highlighted a history of pedophilia and sex tourism that Matzneff has discussed and written about in his own books for decades. Matzneff made no secret of his sexual activities. In 1975, he appeared on Apostrophes to promote his essay Les moins de seize ans (The Under 16s), in which he discussed sexual relations with people under the age of 16. He later wrote an anonymised account of his relationship with Springora in the book La Prunelle de mes yeux ({{langx|fr|The Apple of my Eyes}}) (Gallimard, 1995).{{Cite news|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=2020-02-12|title=Gabriel Matzneff, Who Wrote for Years About Pedophilia, Is Charged|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/world/europe/gabriel-matzneff-pedophilia-charge.html|access-date=2021-01-12|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|date=23 December 2019|title=Pédophilie: avec Matzneff, l'édition va-t-elle connaître son affaire Polanski?|url=https://www.lexpress.fr/culture/pedophilie-avec-matzneff-l-edition-va-t-elle-connaitre-son-affaire-polanski_2111345.html|access-date=11 June 2020|website=LExpress.fr|language=fr}}
The fallout was significant. Matzneff's three publishers all ceased working with him; a lifetime stipend was revoked; and the French government announced it would implement an age of consent of 15. The scandal and the ongoing criminal prosecution also turned a spotlight onto a number of high-profile figures in French society who supported and socialised with Matzneff (including François Mitterrand, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé).{{Cite news|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=2020-02-11|title=A Pedophile Writer Is on Trial. So Are the French Elites.|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/world/europe/gabriel-matzneff-pedophilia-france.html|access-date=2021-01-12|issn=0362-4331}} The French politician {{ill|Christophe Girard (politician)|lt=Christophe Girard|fr|Christophe Girard (homme politique)}} claimed to have been unaware of Matzneff's pedophilia,{{Cite news|last=Onishi|first=Norimitsu|date=2020-03-07|title=Supporter of Gabriel Matzneff Says He Was Unaware of Pedophilia|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/world/europe/gabriel-matzneff-christophe-girard-pedophile.html|access-date=2021-01-15|issn=0362-4331}} despite a long association with the writer. Following public pressure, Girard resigned as deputy mayor of Paris in July 2020.{{Cite news|last=Méheut|first=Constant|date=2020-09-14|title=A Second Paris Deputy Mayor Resigns Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/world/europe/paris-deputy-mayor-sex-abuse.html|access-date=2021-01-12|issn=0362-4331}}
Le Consentement was published in English as Consent (translated by Natasha Lehrer) by HarperVia in February 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/11/consent-by-vanessa-springora-review-a-memoir-of-lost-adolescence|title=Consent by Vanessa Springora review - a memory of lost adolescence|first=Lauren|last=Elkin|newspaper=The Guardian|date=11 February 2021|access-date=14 February 2021}} In The New York Times, critic Parul Sehgal praised the memoir and the translation, and noted the impact the book was having: "By every conceivable metric, her book is a triumph."{{Cite news|last=Sehgal|first=Parul|date=2021-02-16|title='Consent,' a Memoir That Shook France, Recalls Living a 'Perverse Nightmare'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/books/review-consent-memoir-vanessa-springora.html|access-date=2021-02-24|issn=0362-4331}}
In September 2021, Editis announced that Springora was leaving the management of Éditions Julliard.{{Cite news |date=20 September 2021 |title=Édition : Vanessa Springora quitte la direction de Julliard |language=fr |work=Le Figaro |agency=Agence France-Presse |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/edition-vanessa-springora-quitte-la-direction-de-julliard-20210920 |access-date=23 November 2021}}
In 2023, Consent was adapted into a film of the same name directed by Vanessa Filho, starring {{ill|Kim Higelin|fr|lt=Kim Higelin}} as Springora and Jean-Paul Rouve as Matzneff.{{Cite web |date=4 November 2023 |title=AFM: 'Consent,' France's Buzzy Adaptation of Vanessa Springora's #MeToo Bestseller, Lures Major Distributors Around the World (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2023/film/global/afm-consent-vanessa-springoras-metoo-bestseller-snd-sales-1235779881/ |website=Variety}}
References
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