François Mitterrand – Signed Autograph Letter

Autograph letter signed to Marie-Louise Terrasse, known as Catherine Langeais. (Fort d’Ivry), November 17, 1938; 2 pages in-4°.
Beautiful letter from the young badasse at Fort d'Ivry, who philosophizes with delight on his love passion: “My beloved little girl, Like yesterday, I am writing to you at one o'clock. And the same scenario: soon I will have to go down the stairs that so many nails have hammered down! Last night you were against me, and I could express my love to you (never well enough). And every time I leave you, I think “I will never be able to love him more”. And yet I feel like I love you more and more. This is undoubtedly due to the fact that we know ourselves better every day: a terrible ordeal, from which we emerge more self-confident, with the certainty of an indestructible love. My very darling little girl, how can we understand this chance which made us meet one night at a ball, and which made us fall in love from the first time! And above all, how can we understand that a love born without any other foundation than an impression could prove lasting, could have resisted in-depth knowledge? Oh my dearest, how I love you for not disappointing me! How I love you for revealing to me your brand new soul, for giving me everything that one only gives once with all one's strength, with all one's will to live. I see that the strength to love wears out like everything else when we abandon it to all the winds! But I see it more solid than time when you give it with your whole being, without restrictions, only the absolute counts, and only the absolute can offer happiness. Because I love you totally, with the absolute support of my being, I now know what happiness is. Life could be hostile to me and leave me with nothing but disappointments, I would be even stronger than it because I have you: the rest no longer means anything. My beloved, how carefully we must live! We will have to reject without hesitation anything that could divide us: our love is now our happiness. Anything that comes against the two of us, who have everything because we love each other, we will have to crush without weakness. My Marie-Louise, I adore you. I know you love me, and I'm happy for you. You know I would do anything for you, everything. Tonight I'll see you. I will only think about this, until then, and when I hold your face you will know the truth of my love. And now I'm going to take my rifle. This afternoon, shooting, at five o'clock: hop there! I'm passing the post, and going to find the one I love. I will be unshaven: why also waste all this time writing to you, Miss my darling? For what ! Because I love you more than anything in the world. François » Catherine Langeais (1923 – 1998), born Marie-Louise Terrasse, the most popular announcer on French television from 1949 to 1975, met François Mitterrand on January 28, 1938, during the École Normale Supérieure ball, while she is only 14 years old. Love at first sight was immediate, but despite the age difference, Mitterrand was 7 years older, they decided to get engaged. Military service at Fort d'Ivry, then the war, put distance, however, Mitterrand wrote more than 200 passionate letters to his dear Zou. Out of sight, out of mind, their love fades despite the 80 letters sent by her distraught fiancé. Marie-Louise's heart burns for a Polish count whom she ends up marrying. Mitterrand, for his part, marries in 1944 the young resistance fighter Danielle Gouze, whom she met during the war.