I Discovered I’m Related to Great French Novelist Gustave Flaubert Thanks to MyHeritage
What if my family tree crossed paths with that of a great writer? That’s what I discovered — with surprise and emotion — while exploring my genealogy on MyHeritage. As I traced the branches of my maternal line, I found an unexpected link to Gustave Flaubert, one of France’s most famous authors.
It all began in the Marne region, in Bagneux, a village just 11 kilometers from Marcilly-sur-Seine, the almost exclusive village of my mother’s life. She was born there, got married there, and passed away there.
While climbing through her family tree, I came across Jean Sébastien Le Beau, born in 1680, married to Marguerite Barbe Flaubert. That surname caught my attention. A quick check online confirmed that the Flaubert family came from Bagneux. Right away, my relatives asked, “So, are we cousins of Gustave?”
The title page of the 1857 edition of Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert’s famous debut novel. Source: Picryl, public domain
A family investigation à la Flaubert
Curious, I decided to dig deeper. Thanks to MyHeritage’s tools, I explored the ancestors of Gustave Flaubert on one side, and those of Marguerite Barbe Flaubert on the other. Then, a Smart Match™ appeared. This valuable feature connects shared profiles across different trees. The match led me to Jean Sébastien Le Beau, born in 1615, father of Edmée Le Beau, who married Michel “the Younger” Flaubert, a direct ancestor of Gustave, 5 generations back.
Christophe’s family tree intersecting with Gustave Flaubert’s
Jean Sébastien Le Beau and Médarde Chauve, the common ancestors of Christophe Joly and Gustave Flaubert, lived in Bagneux in the mid-17th century.
The connection was clear: our trees merged. I was indeed part of Flaubert’s extended family. My wife reacted with much emotion: “What a shame your mother didn’t know this while she was alive — she would have loved it.” She was right: my mother wrote poetry, and this discovery would surely have brought her great joy.
Christophe Joly and his wife
Connecting another cousin to his roots
This isn’t the only fascinating story I uncovered while exploring my roots. On my father’s side, I discovered a beautiful postwar anecdote: his first cousin, Denise Darras, married an American soldier, Roy Edward Sportsman, in 1945 at the time of the Liberation. Their son, Michel, now lives in the United States. I met him once, and we still exchange emails.
Michel had tried to piece together the Darras family tree without much success. So when I managed to trace it back to Nicolas Darras (1515–1575), I sent him the link to my MyHeritage tree, along with this little note:
“Dear Michel, we share a common ancestor, Nicolas, who was born 23 years after Christopher Columbus discovered America.”
A new perspective on my family history
Discovering a connection to one of France’s great writers has truly changed the way I see my family story. It adds new meaning to the legacy I pass on to my children and grandchildren. I’ve saved this connection in my MyHeritage tree for future generations, so they’ll know where they come from… and with whom they share a spark of literary genius.
And I know, deep down, that my mother would have been moved to her core by this discovery.
Congratulations to Christophe on this incredible discovery and many thanks for sharing it with us! If you’ve also made an amazing discovery on MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it. Please share it with us via this form or email us at stories@myheritage.com.
