Poems Without Frontiers

Marie was born Marie Causse in La Rochelle and married Paul Chabaneix, a radiologist, whereupon she adopted his pseudonym, Nervat, for her own works and those she wrote jointly with her husband. The pseudonym was a homage to Gerard de Nerval whom they held in great admiration.

She bore a son, Phillippe, whilst on a sea passage to New Caledonia on the liner L'Australien en route to Albany, Australia. New Caledonia was, at that time a French dependency in the Pacific, where Paul served as a medical officer in the French army colonial service. He and his wife had belonged to a literary group in Toulouse and had both written poetry published by the respected Mercure de France. Phillipe also became a celebrated poet.

The family returned to La Rochelle in 1904. Marie died in Palma de Majorca.