ABSTRACT
Marie Bashkirtseff (1859–1884) was born in Russia and lived the life of an emigrée with her family in France. She was a precocious child who wished to become a painter and studied for this in Paris. She died young of T.B. Her Journal was published posthumously, selected by her mother. (The complete diaries are to be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris). The story of her infatuation with the Duke of Hamilton has just been written by Doris Langley Moore. Her Letters have also been published. Marie is memorable chiefly because of the rapturous ardour with which she confronts life, mixed with conceit and self-infatuation. She was a remarkable if not very likeable girl.
