Hellé Nice died in 1984, impoverished and alone. When she was interred, not even a headstone marked the site. Twenty six years after her death, Sheryl Greene is intent upon making sure the world does not forget this daring French woman who raced Alfas and Bugattis before WWII. Inspired by Miranda Seymour’s book “Bugatti Queen,” Greene, a car enthusiast from Atlanta, established the Hellé Nice Foundation to provide financial aid for young women with a passion to race. The Foundation’s inaugural project is raising money for the purchase of that missing gravestone or marker for Nice, whose real name was Hélène Delangle. After Greene visited the gravesite in France earlier this year, we asked her to update us on her efforts to secure a headstone for Nice.
Story by Sheryl Greene
Art by Larry Crane
From time to time I get messages from the author of “Bugatti Queen” Miranda Seymour; she passes along some bit of information or a contact I may find helpful for the Hellé Nice Foundation. In January, she sent an email that was a treasure. It began, “The last living relative of Hellé Nice, just surfaced …”
Suddenly, contact with the family of Hellé Nice seemed feasible. Hopefully they would be interested in our efforts to provide a marker or gravestone for Hellé.
The message I received from Miranda resulted in a series of emails to and from Sophie Delangle, the last of Hellé Nice’s line who had made contact with Miranda. Her father, Robert Delangle, Hellé’s distant cousin, and his wife, Simone, said that they would be able to meet me at the gravesite. Sophie herself, however, would not be able to make such a quick trip. I told the family I was to be in France for the Retromobile; could we meet just prior to the event?
The answer was yes, and so I included a trip to Sainte Mesme, a small village that Hellé Nice left for the bright lights of Paris, and to which she returned permanently only in death. Her ashes were sent to Sainte Mesme after her death in 1984, and she was unceremoniously placed in the family crypt.
She has rested here for 26 years, unnoticed except by the local Historical Society, who acknowledge her in their book on the history of Sainte Mesme. I was to meet with the President of the Association Historique et Archéologique de Sainte-Mesme, M. Louis Dejean, and afterwards have lunch with him and his wife, Elisabeth.
The 13th century church of Ste Mesme.
M. Dejean greeted me at the train station in Dourdan. Thankfully, he spoke much better English than I spoke French. Depending on what day it is, I remember ten or twelve words of French. M. Dejean advised me we would visit the Mayor of Sainte Mesme, Paul Desmettre, gather up another member of the Historical Society, then drive to the cemetery for meeting. At the Mayor’s office, with introductions all in French, I nodded and hoped “oui” was a correct response. M Demettre apologized that he could not join us at the cemetery, and off we went.
No mention of Hellé on the crypt, but Greene laid fresh flowers.
At the cemetery I was greeted by a warm and friendly group, including the Delangles. There is a feeling I get when I have been to a funeral, and arrive at the cemetery for the interment. It is a solemn feeling, heavy hearted, but ready to say goodbye. I had that same feeling getting out of the car. It was very quiet there, that January morning. A few birds flitted around, but there was no applause, no dust, no roar of the great and mighty racing engines that Hellé loved. I had brought a bouquet of white daisies and carried them with me on the train to place on her grave.
Left to right - Simone Delangle(wife of Robert), Robert Delangle, Historical Society of Ste Mesme, M Kahan, M Louis Dejean, President, Mme Perrin, M and Mme Tissier
Anyone who doesn’t know where to look will not find Hellé here. No listing, no carved name, nothing. If you know her family name, Delangle, you might make a guess at where she is. I walked along with the others the short distance to the crypt, and as we gathered in front of the crypt to place the flowers, I noticed someone had been there earlier to clean the debris. The ground was freshly raked. There are people here who care for Hellé. I said my goodbye. We stood in reverence for a few moments before moving on toward the church.
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What a grand morning we were given, bright blue skies, the early morning damp, a picturesque 13th century church (which, sadly, I learned has very few parishioners left), and a community and a family interested in correcting an injustice done many years ago. Robert Delangle remembers Hellé coming out to the country to his father’s farm during the war to get food, and driving a Bugatti. He also remembers a visit to Hellé’s mother and sister in Sainte Mesme in 1966, and that Hellé was not mentioned during that visit at all. He had been under the impression that she had left for the US after the war, and not until Sophie read Miranda’s The Bugatti Queen recently did they come to know the truth of Hellé’s life and how sadly it ended.
The Delangles are very interested in helping to clear the name of Hellé Nice in France, where “The Bugatti Queen” has not been published. The family brought copies of everything they had been able to gather on short notice regarding Hellé, which they presented to me with reverence and with pride in their ancestor. How wonderful! I assured the assembled group that my intentions and my loyalty to Hellé were genuine, and I outlined my plans for the rally, the ceremony, and the marker. Then I graciously thanked the family and we said our goodbyes and off I went with my host, to his residence, once a stone barn, now a beautiful home, sitting on a hill in the little village of Corbreuse. There I shared a delicious country lunch with him and his wife. More talk, more plans, contact information written down, and back to the train station and Paris.
While in Paris, I also went to Retromobile, specifically to meet Bugatti enthusiasts associated with the American Bugatti Club and the Club Bugatti France. I was able to make some valuable connections with both clubs. I was able to detail my plans for the Hellé Nice Project for the fall:
1. To raise, with their help, $5,000 to create and place a marker on the racer’s grave in the village of Sainte Mesme, France;
2. To organize a rally of historic cars and motorcycles from Paris to the village of Sainte Mesme on the day of the ceremony; then to have the drivers and all interested persons attend the ceremony and unveiling of the marker.
I left Retro with a sense of accomplishment, that I had met supportive people, given them information I had come to relay, and had provided them with a face behind the email and a voice on the phone.
Sheryl Greene can be reached at hellenicefoundation@gmail.com
For more information read “A Death Forgotten”
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
Sheryl,
What a wonderful story and the efforts you have made are wonderful! As you know we’ve featured Helle Nice in our exhibit” Women in the Winner’s Circle: A Traveling Exhibit” on the history of women in racing. I will be making a donation and applaud what you’re doing. Hope to see you in 2010!
Sincerely,
Lyn St. James
Beautiful! It’s a privilege to share this journey with Sheryl and The Helle Nice Foundation. What a beautiful cause, with a sincere purpose and wonderful people committed to the effort. I hope you will film a documentary of your efforts … bon courage!
This is an interesting development. One of the reasons I suspect that Helle Nice is not honoured in France is that to do so would be to cast light on the influence and activities of Louis Chiron who was involved in alledgedly condemning her. Someone needs to be brave enough to take a close look at Chiron’s activities and motivations. I thought Joe Saward’s Grand Prix Saboteurs might do this, but in fact didn’t discuss Chiron in much detail at all and totally leaves out reference to Helle Nice. Paris and Mearns in their Wimille book also do not refer to her, and say very little about Chiron’s activities during the war, at a time when he was well known by Wimille. Perhaps someone needed to ask Mme. Wimille about this. I rather wish Miranda Seymour would now go back and investigate this issue more thoroughly, having stirred up interest in Helle Nice. Getting a memorial to her is fine, but a clearer view of history might be a more fitting tribute.
Ed McDonough
Congratulations Sheryl for your determination!
I thank you for the mention of my article in honour of Helle Nice for the celebration of the Women International Day. It is a privilege to contribute for the preservation of this great woman’s history.
As a devotee as well as a scholar of the women whose adventurousness, courage, and love of motorsport enhanced the diversity in women’s history and provided a history for today’s women racers, I applaud both Helle Nice and Sheryl Greene. I am looking forward with utter delight to the celebration at Ste Mesme and to laying a bouquet of flowers on the marked grave. But speaking of history, I also agree with Mr. McDonough that there is need for more investigation into the history of Chiron’s accusations against Helle Nice, accusations that seem to have played a part in Helle Nice’s tragic decline (considering, too, that the head injury she suffered in the Brazilian crash increasingly affected her ability to withstand pressures). The very influential Antony Noghes, president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, was one of Chiron’s most ardent supporters and presumably could have blackballed Helle Nice in certain racing circles. As Mr. McDonough emphasizes, though, setting the history straight about Chiron himself is exceedingly important.
In today’s world of constant dismal news, I find Sheryl Green’s planned tribute for Hellé Nice to be refreshingly inspiring. And necessary. Yes, Hellé ‘s grave should be marked and identified for future generations. Yes, her name and reputation should be cleared and Chiron and others exposed. I am personally proud to have already contributed to this worthy cause and I urge all fellow Veloce Today readers to do the same. No amont is too small. Sheryl needs to raise at leat $5,000 to get a marker erected and an event planned for September of this year. Please consider donating to the Hellé Nice Foundation. All contributions of $500 or more will carry name recognition for the donor at the event in September. She needs your help!
Mary Ann Dickinson
How nice of you keeping those things a live. I just love to read the article, and hope hear more in October, I’m sure she will have a beatiful honor that she deserves. sometimes life is a stepmother.
F. Miguel
madame Sheryl Greene
merci pour cette matinee a SAINTE MESME en l’honneur a HELLE NICE
votre devouement pour une bonne cause ,réhabiliter la memoire de cette femme
salutation
bruno