Tania de Montaigne Height, Age, Boyfriend, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	Author, Journalist, TV Presenter, Actress, Singer, Playwright
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 168 cm in meters- 1.68 m in feet inches- 5’ 6”
Weight (approx.)	in kilograms- kg in pounds- lbs
Eye Color	Black
Hair Color	Black
Career
Writings and novels	• Patch (2001) • Tokyo c’est loin (2006) • Les Caractères sexuels secondaires (2009) • Toutes les familles ont un secret (2014) • Noire (2015) • Nous n’avons pas fini de nous aimer (2016) • L’Assignation, Les Noirs n’existent pas (2018)
Awards, Honors, Achievements	• Won a prize for Best Afro-Caribbean Arts Novel for the book ‘Les Caractères Sexuels’ (2009) • Prix Botul (2018) for the book ‘L’assignation : les Noirs n’existe pas’ • Prix de la laïcité (2018) for the book ‘L’assignation : les Noirs n’existe pas’ (2018) • Simone Veil prize (2015) for her book Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin (2015) • Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin (2015) included in Elle's Grand Prix des lectrices : 50 ème édition in 2016
Personal Life
Date of Birth	December 24, 1971 (Friday)
Age (as of 2021)	50 Years
Birthplace	Paris, France
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Nationality	French
Hometown	Draveil, Essonne, in the southern suburbs of Paris, France
College/University	EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociales), Paris
Educational Qualification	• Baccalauréat littéraire ^[1]MADININ’ART • Studied political science at EHESS (École des hautes études en sciences sociale), Paris ^[2]Atlantide
Ethnicity	Tania’s father has an American-Congolese origin, while her mother hails from Martinique, a Caribbean island. ^[3]MADININ’ART
Family
Parents	Father-Name Not Known (Musician) Mother- Name Not Known (A trained shorthand writer who later started working at Aéroports de Paris (ADP))
Favorites
Writer(s) (American)	James Baldwin, David Sedaris
Writer(s) (French)	Guy de Maupassant, Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Blaise Pascal
Novel(s)	Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant, Et tu n’es pas revenu by Marceline Loridan-Ivens, Pensées by Blaise Pascal, Tout Nu by David Sedaris
Film(s)	A Serious Man (2009), Party Girl (2014), Birdman (2014)
Music Album	Bach ‘s Cello Suites by Paul Tortelier
DJ (French)	Le Professeur Inlassable

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tania de Montaigne

Tania de Montaigne is a French journalist, actress, singer, playwright, and author who is well known for authoring the books Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin (2015) and L’assignation : les Noirs n’existe pas (2018).

Tania grew up in a modest single-parent family along with her mother and maternal grandmother (born in Guadeloupe). Till the age of six, Tania lived at her maternal grandmother’s house after which she was enrolled in a school nearby.
Tania de Montaigne during her school days

In an interview, Tania revealed that she was introduced to the concept of racism during her school days when one day she heard,

Ah, she’s black, so she’s dirty”

Eventually, Tania shared the incident with her grandmother, who explained,

What do you think all these people are looking for in the summer? They seek to be black.”
Although Tania’s mother was barely literate herself, she made sure that Tania acquired the finest education. Additionally, her mother also assured that Tania grew up to become an independent woman. In an interview, Tania talked about her childhood and said,

My mother didn’t study, and it was very important to her that I did. But her method was special: she wanted me to be autonomous, independent. She never intervened. Today, I realize how lucky that was. At the time, I would have liked her to pick me up like other mothers, with a little snack. I didn’t understand why she wasn’t there.”
Tania grew passionate about arts and theater when her mother enrolled her in a dance and theater class in Avignon, France, where she came across the five-hour-long Patrice Chéreau’s theatrical production ‘Hamlet.’ Staged in the forecourt of Palais des Papes, Avignon, the play mesmerized Tania who was raised in a humble household. In an interview, she talked about her family and said,

I grew up in an environment where there was no money. I only went to camp for the holidays. We were a group of young people who had never been to the theater or to this festival.”
She attended high school in Essonne, Athis-Mons. A polyglot, Tania learned German, Latin, and Russian during her high school days.

It was during the Russian class, featuring students with diverse ethnic backgrounds, that Tania finally felt the feeling of belongingness.

She developed a fondness for literature after being introduced to the literary works of French authors Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola during her college days.

After pursuing a Baccalauréat littéraire, she enrolled in a preparatory course for admission in The Paris Institute of Political Studies (commonly referred to as Sciences Po).

While studying political science at EHESS, she worked as a waitress.

After attending EHESS, while pursuing different odd jobs simultaneously, Tania interviewed for the position of a parliamentary attaché, which she, unfortunately, failed to acquire. Meanwhile, Tania was also volunteering in school support at the Draveil social center.

Soon after, one of her friends working at the French radio network Europe 1 offered her a job.

Thereafter, Tania made acquaintance with Catherine Malaval, the editor-in-chief and a producer at the channel Canal J. Back then, Catherine was looking for someone to present a children’s daily program on the channel. Passing the Canal J castings, she secured the job.

Later, she was approached by the French journalist and TV presenter Jérôme Bonaldi, who was then working for the French TV channel Canal+. Consequently, she signed a contract with Canal+. In 1994, she worked as a columnist in Canal+’s French entertainment program ‘Nulle part ailleurs.’

While revealing an interesting fact about her first day of job at Canal+, Tania said that security blocked her for an hour at the entrance refusing to believe that she was a host at the channel.

In 1998, she appeared on ‘Les 30 dernières minutes,’ telecast on France 2. The TV program showcased behind-the-camera scenes and setbacks of the editorial staff of TV shows, e.g. guests who refuse to show up, disagreement in the production team, demands of the audience, the low budget of the shows, etc.

While growing up, Tania believed that her father was dead. When Tania’s parents first met, her father was a member of a band. In 2010, she discovered that her father was alive and reunited with him. Thereafter, her musician father went on to record her first music album, La Clé.

She lent her voice to the 2011 song “Misunderstanding,” which was featured in the album ‘ A New York Thing Une aventure new-yorkaise’.

Via her job at Canal+, Tania raised a loan and bought an apartment for her mother.

In 2012, Tania worked at the French public radio channel ‘France Inter,’ she worked as a presenter for the program “Ouvert la nuit.”
Tania de Montaigne at France Inter in 2012

At the 2013 Avignon Festival, she made her debut as a playwright with the theatrical production ‘Le Plus Beau Jour, starring French actor Xavier Thiam.

In 2015, she came into the limelight with the book ‘Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin,’ which featured the story of the African-American retired nurse aide Claudette Colvin whose arrest fueled the 1950s civil rights movement. On March 2, 1955, Claudette Colvin, 15, was taken into the custody of the police for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Along with Danielle Mérian, she co-authored the 2016 book ‘Nous n’avons pas fini de nous aimer’.

In December 2016, Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin (2015) was adapted as a play and staged at the Center Dramatique National d’Orléans.

In January 2019, Emilie Plateau published a comic adaptation of Tania de Montaigne’s 2015 book Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin.
2019 comic adaptation of the book Noire La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin (2015)

At the 2017 “Mise en capsules” festival, Tania’s play ‘Là de’ was premiered at Ciné 13.

Tania de Montaigne has also written monthly columns in the newspaper ‘Liberation.’

In 2017, she played the role of Femme campagne in the French romantic drama film ‘Un beau soleil intérieur’ (Let the Sunshine In). The film chronicles the story of Isabelle, a Parisian artist whose tumultuous relationship with a married banker leads her to start numerous other romantic relationships.

In 2019, she presented the theatrical adaptation of her books ‘Noire: La vie méconnue de Claudette Colvin’ and ‘ staged at the Théâtre du Rond-Point.
Tania de Montaigne showcasing the story of Claudette Colvin at Théâtre du Rond-Point

In 2020, she appeared in an episode of Poésie (dans un monde de brutes), which consisted of a series of videos featuring poetries of various artists in different languages and forms.
Tania de Montaigne in Poésie (dans un monde de brutes)

In an interview, Tania revealed that her name was Martiniquan i.e., it was derived from the days of slavery in the Caribbean island of Martinique, an overseas region of France. She said,

My name is Martinican, it comes directly from the history of slavery. Ever since I was little, people have always asked me if that’s my real name, it seems so strange to them that a black woman can call herself that.”