Aline Réveillaud de Lens

Aline Réveillaud de Lens (born March 2, 1881, in Paris, died February 10, 1925, in Fez), was a French novelist and painter who lived and worked in Tunisia and Morocco. She signed her works A. R. de Lens, A.-R. de Lens and Aline de Lens. De Lens was the first of five children of Emile Delens (the spelling of the family name was officially changed in 1921). Her father was a famous Parisian surgeon. The well-off family provided the children with an artistic education typical of the time: de Lens played the violin and drew. In her diary she confessed that she had wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and study biology or chemistry, but her poor health and neurasthenia had not allowed her to realize this dream. De Lens enrolled in the Académie Julian and in 1904 was one of the first women admitted to the Paris Academy of Fine Arts (atelier Humbert). In 1908 she went to Spain to improve her health. The same year she met André Réveillaud, six years younger than her. They decided to get married, but refused to consummate their marriage so as not to lose the unique feeling that had united them. Both families found the marriage of their children difficult to accept, and the couple decided to leave France. In 1911, on the day after their wedding, they left France for Tunis where André became a colonial official. At the end of 1913, he was transferred to Morocco, a newly created French Protectorate, and the couple moved to Rabat. In 1915, in the Revue de Paris, de Lens published her first article "Au Maroc pendant la guerre" (In Morocco during the war). The article praised the colonial policy of France and the action of General Lyautey, the French Resident-General in Morocco, who was delighted with this text. De Lens later dedicated to him the second part of her short stories Le harem entr’ouvert. Mœurs marocaines (Half-open harem. Moroccan customs). In November 1915, the Réveillaud family moved to Meknes. De Lens was involved in the works of the Service des Arts Indigènes, an office dealing with the protection of Moroccan cultural heritage, and wrote several articles to familiarize French readers with Moroccan culture and art.