Born in 1831, Marie Trolliet was a writer from the Valais who spent some of her vacations at Château de Courten. The daughter of a pastor from Bagnes and an Italian Catholic, she converted to Catholicism thirty years after her father's death. After teaching French in Berlin, she returned to Switzerland and settled in Valais.
During her travels in Italy and the Middle East, she developed a passion for writing, publishing her first articles in various Swiss magazines. Under the pseudonym Mario, she wrote stories and chronicles about Valais traditions and customs, expressing her nostalgia for ancient values in the face of modern advances such as railroads and electricity. The name Mario has been borrowed to give us a chance to discover her texts.
Her major works include “Un vieux pays: croquis valaisans” (1889), “La Jacquillarde” and “Loin du Monde” (1890-1891), “Silhouettes romandes” (1891), and “Le génie des Alpes valaisannes” (1893).
She describes places like Vercorin, Zermatt, and the Val d'Anniviers, offering invaluable accounts of unspoiled nature and local legends.
Biography source: Médiathèque Valais
Photo credits: Bibliothèque de Genève
