A Death Forgotten

All is not equal in life or death. Hellé Nice, perhaps the better driver, certainly more successful, died in 1984, impoverished and alone, far removed from the exciting life she led and the aristocrats with whom she liked to keep company. When she was interred, not even a headstone marked the site. The world had long forgotten about her accomplishments, her family bitter and aloof.

Twenty five years after the death of Hellé Nice, three women are intent upon bringing a new focus to the neglected race driver.

The first is Miranda Seymour. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and visiting professor of creative writing at the Nottingham Trent University, Seymour is an international literary figure whose books include works of fiction, non fiction, biographies, children’s stories, and most recently a critically acclaimed memoir, “Thrumpton Hall.” Seymour’s latest book is “Chaplin’s Girl”.

Seymour is also famed for her book “Bugatti Queen,” a biography Hellé Nice published in 2004. Recently, Seymour got a ride in a Delage very similar to the one driven by Friderich, prompting her to write “Death by Delage” for VeloceToday. Seymour has been very helpful in keeping the name of Hellé Nice in the public eye, and has supported the creation of a new Hellé Nice Foundation. (Seymour’s books can be purchased through her website, Mirandaseymour.com.)

Patricia Lee Yongue is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Houston, a connoisseur of fine French cars and a contributor to VeloceToday. She has served as a connector and catalyst, bringing together people who have similar goals and interests. Yongue has written on Hellé Nice’s American racing and is fond of comparing and contrasting Nice to Czech racer Elisabeth Junek, and has assisted many Bugatti enthusiasts with research. In addition to helping Simon Moore research his “Immortal 2.9” she has written extensively on women race drivers (see Nina Vitagliano and the Speederettes.)
Both Yongue and Seymour share a love of Bugattis as well as affection for Hellé Nice.

Inspired by Seymour’s book “Bugatti Queen,” Sheryl Greene, a car enthusiast from Atlanta, established the Hellé Nice Foundation in 2008 to provide financial aid for young women with a passion to race, an effort encouraged by both Seymour and Yongue. HNF is “a non-profit organization dedicated to honoring the ‘Fastest Women in the World’ and promoting global gender equality in racing through education and funding to women in motorsports.”

The Foundation’s inaugural project, however, is raising money for the purchase of that missing gravestone or marker for Nice, whose real name was Hélène Delangle.

As Miranda Seymour discovered, Delangle wasn’t exactly welcomed home by her family–even in death. Says Greene, “Hellé was cremated. Her ashes were sent to her older sister Solange at Sainte-Mesme and buried in the family plot, but with no marker. There is an existing grave site with a family stone but no mention of Hélène Delangle, or Hellé Nice.”

Sheryl Greene is the kind of person who can relate to a Hellé Nice. “I have been interested in automobiles as far back as I can remember. My father was mechanically inclined, had been a jet
mechanic in the air force, and maintained our friends’ and family cars.” Her interest began in earnest as her father enlisted her as his helper. “My first car was a Triumph Spitfire, purchased for $230, when I was 16. We towed it home and my dad and I got it running.” Years later, she found a fantastic deal on a 1971 E-Type Jaguar and joined the local Jaguar Club. One thing led to another, and before long she was running slaloms with her E-Type and became a certified Jaguar Concours judge. She now owns “one of the slowest cars on the planet,” a 1955 Austin A30, but the thrill is still there.

Greene also has a degree in speech communications and theatre, has worked behind the scenes in television and the costume industry, and managed an auto restoration garage. She is currently working on a project that will revolutionize the fundraising process for non-profit organizations.

Interest in Hellé Nice came by way of a bookstore. “I found a copy of Miranda’s book and was fascinated by Hellé’s story. Seymour introduced to me a woman I never knew existed. A powerful, talented woman who did things few other women did at the time. I don’t think she knew there were any barriers. She just pursued what she enjoyed, and found she was very good at it. When the book ended, I felt I had lost a friend. It was at that moment the idea for the foundation appeared.” Greene thinks Nice should be recognized for who she was and what she had done for women. “There can never be enough strong, female role models to help guide young women coming up.”

Some say that Hellé Nice did not exactly set the racing world on fire. No Elisabeth Junek, perhaps, but a valiant attempt to succeed in a man’s sport on their terms, and with her own money. Hellé Nice Delangle at least deserves to be honored with a grave marker on this, the 25th anniversary of her death.

Greene feels strongly about that. “I feel that because of Hellé’s
accomplishments, she especially deserves to have her final resting place marked. Of course we expanded the goals for the foundation to educate the public about the history of women in motorsports, and, as the foundation grows financially, to be able to sponsor young women with an interest in pursuing a career that may not have all the money they need.”

The Hellé Nice Foundation, Inc. is a registered non profit foundation in the State of Georgia, and Federal 501(c) 3 status is being approved. Any donations made will be tax deductible for the year 2009.

Checks can be made out to The Hellé Nice Foundation, Inc. and mailed to:
The Hellé Nice Foundation, Inc.
320 Knox Bridge Trail
Canton, GA 30114
hellenicefoundation@gmail.com

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