Another death that slipped through the cracks (hey, we’re preparing for the big handover and entries for the 2020 Derby Dead Pool are now open if you look over there), allow us to correct that. Lucette Destouches was a dancer and the wife of modernist writer/fascist Louis-Ferdinand Celine. When he wasn’t busy moaning about Jews or inventing beat literature, Celine was a keen ballet fan and picked Destouches out of a performance one evening. After he carked it in 1961, Destouches spent the next 58 years managing Celine’s estate, trying to prevent the publication of any texts that dealt with his Nazi collaborationism and teaching ballet.
Lucette Destouches
July 1912 – 8 November 2019
Died aged 107 (unique hit)