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About Anna Livebardon

In 1996, I was a volunteer missionary in Cahors, France. Sometimes, after a long day of proselyting, my companion and I would stop by to visit Anna Livebardon. She was a sweet old lady who lived in a modest apartment in downtown Cahors. Although we never convinced her to come to church with us, she was always very kind to the missionaries.

What I did not realize at the time was that Anna Livebardon was, in fact, one of France's literary giants — albeit in her waning years. Earlier in her life, she had authored multiple award-winning volumes of poetry, published songs, and even coached celebrities such as Mike Brant. Over time, however, she had gone from mingling with Europe's cultural elite to living alone and almost forgotten in an obscure village in southwest France.

In 2019, with the kind assisance of the staff of the Lot Département Archives, I learned that Anna's real name was Jeanne-Marie Suzanne Ollier (née Bonnet). Anna Livebardon was simply a pseudonym. She was born in Aubière (Puy-de-Dôme) on 16 December 1910. She passed away on 17 April 2001 in an assisted living center in Cahors. She was 90 years old.

Since original copies of her poetry and music are now extremely rare, this website aims to preserve her memory by creating a public archive of her work. If any of her heirs have concerns about my making these materials available online, please contact me. Likewise, if anyone has any additional resources regarding Anna Livebardon, such as photographs or biographical information, please let me know.