This collection contains materials relating primarily to the private life of Oreste Pucciani (1916-1999), UCLA Professor of French and Sartre scholar, documenting in particular his relationship with his long-time lover, Rudi Gernreich, and his close friends, art director Jacques Faure (1926-1986), poet Stanley Kuniholm (1912-1984), and Lionel Mailles (born 1951). The bulk of Pucciani's personal writings consists of erotic short stories written most probably between 1975 and 1980. The bulk of the materials relating to Rudi Gernreich consists of condolence letters to Pucciani after Gernreich's death, together with a small number of cards and letters addressed to Gernreich, letters to Pucciani from Gernreich's mother, and a videocassette recording of a talk given by Pucciani on his late partner in 1993. The bulk of the materials relating to Faure, Kuniholm, and Mailles consists of letters received by Pucciani; however, the Mailles files include copies of letters, poems, and essays addressed by Pucciani to Mailles. The materials received from Kuniholm include a large number of poems, short stories, and essays documenting the poet's creative processes. The collection also contains a small number of subject files, publications, and miscellaneous memorabilia and ephemera.

Oreste Francesco Pucciani was born in Cleveland on April 7, 1916, the son of a candy manufacturer. He attended the Cleveland public schools and graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Adelbert College, Western Reserve University (now Case Western University) in 1939. He took his doctorate in Romance languages from Harvard in 1943. In 1946-47, Pucciani studied in France and Italy on a Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, meeting Sartre and his companion Simone de Beauvoir. Returning to the United States in 1947, Pucciani lectured at Harvard, before joining the faculty of the University of California Los Angeles as an Assistant Professor of French in 1948. He was became an Associate Professor in 1954, and a full Professor in 1960. He was chairman of the French department from 1961 to 1966, and became emeritus in 1979.

10 archive cartons + 1 archive half-carton. 4.3 linear feet.

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The collection is open to researchers. There are no access restrictions.