PORTRAIT. From Brittany to the Sahara, Odette du Puigaudeau, a little-known adventurer

Odette du Puigaudeau decided in 1934 to explore the desert of Mauritania with her friend Marion. Her path seemed mapped out for her: a quiet childhood in a Breton house, an adolescence under the sign of nature and a destiny that seemed to be anything but that of an adventurer.

Born in Saint-Nazaire in 1894, Odette is the daughter of Ferdinand Dupuis-Godot, a painter from the Breton gentry. From a very young age, she was lulled by the sea and the maritime landscapes of Brittany, particularly around Le Croisic.

His father, passionate about painting, passed on his love of art and detail to him, raising him in an environment rich in daydreams and discoveries. She is his “best student”, but it is in the careful observation of nature, particularly insects and fish, that Odette stands out.

Far from big cities, Odette spent a solitary but fulfilled childhood, protected from worldliness and social conventions.

The family mansion in Kervaudu becomes a place of learning and development, where she discovers the joys of study and drawing. If her life seems peaceful, a feeling of isolation begins to overwhelm her. His father raises him “like a boy”, which ends up weighing on his personal aspirations. She dreams of more, of other horizons.

During the First World War, Odette, at age 20, joined the war effort despite her family’s opposition, affirming her desire for independence.

At the Croisic dispensary, she met Grace Constance Lansbury, an independent and scholarly American, who became for her a model of emancipation. This encounter turns his life upside down, prompting him to leave the family home for Paris, defying his father’s anger.

In the capital, Odette finds a new lease of life. She joined a circle of intellectuals and artists, including Madame Fournier de Aurac, collector of exotic butterflies.

Working as a naturalist designer, Odette skillfully reproduces specimens of rare butterflies which become, at the designer Lanvin, outfits for the Catherinettes’ party. The women are then almost levitating, their exposed chests offered to the viewer. This representation of the female body is quite confusing for the time. Odette builds a reputation and gains financial independence.

In 1933, Odette and Marion, met in the Eve newspaper, organized their first trip to Mauritania. It becomes a pivotal moment in their lives.

Leaving Douarnenez aboard the lobster boat La Belle-Hirondellethe two women embark on a difficult sea crossing, braving the waves of the Bay of Biscay to reach the desert coasts of Mauritania. This journey, on the open sea, already symbolizes their determination to get off the beaten track and discover a still unknown world.

Landing in Mauritania is like taking a leap back 20 centuries”

Odette du Puigaudeau

Extract from the notebooks

When they arrive in Mauritania, they face a radically different world, emphasizing the timeless aspect of this country, where the traditions and way of life of nomads seem frozen in time.

Women integrate into the world of nomads, adopting their lifestyles, patience and endurance in the face of an unforgiving environment. Their immersion is total: they share the meals, customs and movements of the inhabitants, forming strong links with the local population.

It is good to simplify, to learn how few things are necessary. Landing in Mauritania is like returning to biblical times!

Odette du Puigeaudeau

Extract from the notebooks

The two explorers devote themselves fully to their ethnographic mission, photographing and drawing scenes from the daily life of nomads, but also collecting testimonies and stories.

Their work, initially a personal adventure, takes on a scientific and cultural dimension. Throughout their journey, they discover the beauty of the Mauritanian landscapes, the poetry of human encounters and the richness of an ancient culture.

Everyone knows that anyone who has lived in the Sahara dreams of returning there. We don’t really understand why, but it is a known, established, indisputable fact.

Odette du Puigaudeau

Excerpt from “Salt of the Desert”

Odette and Marion’s trip to Mauritania, although part of a scientific and discovery process, does not fail to recall the ambiguities of the colonial era. Their exploration takes place in a context where ethnography, exoticism and colonial ideas intertwine.

Their travel stories, published in magazines and presented at conferences, captivated the public in search of new worlds, while nourishing the ideas of the civilizing mission specific to this era.

Odette and Marion’s conferences and publications are widely acclaimed. The latter become figures of female adventure, despite the social inequalities and prejudices of the time. Through these stories and conferences, they also attempt to highlight the human reality of the people they meet, far from the caricatured representations of a distant world.

When the Second World War broke out, Odette’s journey took a new turn. In the chaos of the occupation and the debacle of 1940, she and Marion find themselves on the roads of exodus.

This moment of terror and struggle for survival, mixed with feelings of shame and confusion, marks a turning point in Odette’s life. After the war, she became actively involved in work supporting prisoners and became one of the leading figures of the French Women’s Service.

However, her history of collaboration, notably her affiliation with a pro-German newspaper, places her in a difficult position.

Despite her past political mistakes, Odette continues to fight for her ideals, seeking to preserve the culture of colonized peoples, specifically that of Mauritania. Her vision of colonization evolved over the years: once convinced of its beneficence, she became an ardent defender of the rights of colonized peoples and embarked on a mission to preserve Saharan cultures.

From the 1950s, Odette devoted herself fully to safeguarding Saharan cultural traditions. She meticulously documents the arts, practices and objects threatened by the rapid evolution of modernity.

His work, long ignored, is today recognized as essential for the preservation of the cultural history of Mauritania and North Africa.

Odette’s last years were marked by the loss of her partner Marion in 1977, an event which plunged her into deep solitude. She retired to Rabat, where she continued her work, but her strength and inspiration began to weaken. His death in 1987 put an end to a life of adventure, passion and discovery.

I’m too alone. My days are so empty that I don’t know what I do with them, nor their names, nor their dates. Life for me now is so sad, so dull, so monotonous, that I can’t find anything worth noting.

Odette du Puigaudeau

Adventurer

Odette du Puigaudeau remains a fascinating figure, an adventurer, an intellectual and an activist for nomadic cultures. His atypical journey, his quest for freedom and his commitment to the peoples of the desert leave a precious legacy.

More than just an explorer, Odette embodies the spirit of an era that looked toward the unknown while seeking to understand and respect the cultures of the world.

Odette du Puigaudeau has published several remarkable works on her travels and her studies of Saharan cultures. These books, largely unobtainable today, bear witness to his ethnographic research and his exploration of Saharan culture.

“Barefoot across Mauritania” (1936) [Grasset] republished by Éditions Actes Sud in 1992.

“The Western Road” [Ibis Press] 2000

“Desert Salt” [Libretto]

“Tagant: in the heart of the Moorish country (1936-1938)” [L’autre monde]

“Memory of the Moorish country (1934-1960)” – [Gandini]

“The great date fair” [Ibis Press]

His work has also been published in journals such as Hesperis Tamuda et Archeology

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