Most people recognize the names Maya Angelou and Germaine Greer long before they recognize the name Paul Du Feu. Yet Du Feu was, at different points in his life, married to both of them. That unusual fact is what keeps his name appearing in celebrity searches and genealogy records decades after his death.
This article covers who Paul Du Feu was, where he came from, what he did for a living, and what is reliably known about his three marriages. It also separates the confirmed details from the parts where online sources disagree.
Who Paul Du Feu Was?
Paul Bernard Du Feu was born in September 1935 in Wrexham, Wales. He died on January 1, 2013, in Oakland, California, at the age of 77. Both his birthplace and death date are consistent across Wikipedia and IMDb listings, which makes these among the more reliably confirmed details in his biography.
His surname appears in a few different spellings online — “Du Feu,” “du Feu,” and occasionally “De Fau.” These variations most likely refer to the same Welsh-born man rather than different people. Spelling inconsistencies in genealogy and entertainment databases are common, especially for surnames with French-sounding origins.
Du Feu was not a major public figure in his own right. His historical interest comes primarily from his connections to two highly influential women — one a leading voice in feminist scholarship, the other one of the most celebrated American poets of the twentieth century.
His Family Background and Parents
Paul Du Feu’s father was Bernard Henry du Feu, and his mother was Mary Catherine Kelly du Feu. He also had a sister named Veronica du Feu. These details come from genealogical records and are useful for anyone trying to map his family connections.
Some secondary accounts suggest that the French-sounding Du Feu surname traces back to ancestors who settled in the Channel Islands before the family moved to Britain. This detail has limited independent support, so it is worth noting as a possibility rather than a confirmed fact.
The simplest way to picture his immediate family is this: Bernard Henry and Mary Catherine had two children — Paul and Veronica. Paul later married three times, and it is through those marriages that his name entered public records and celebrity biographies.
His Work History and Public Profile
Paul Du Feu’s working life is one of the harder parts of his biography to pin down. Different sources describe him in different ways. Some accounts call him a builder. Others list him as a painter, a home renovator, a writer, or a cartoonist. A few mention some connection to art and design education or English literature, though sources disagree on the specifics.
Because no single description is clearly confirmed over the others, the honest picture is that Du Feu moved between several trades and creative pursuits over his lifetime. His work was largely practical and trade-based rather than literary or academic.
His appearances in British media came mostly through his relationships rather than through independent professional recognition. He was not a celebrity in the traditional sense — he was a private individual who happened to be connected to two very public women.
In his later years, he reportedly settled in California, including time in the Berkeley and Oakland areas, where he continued working in home renovation before his death in 2013.
His Three Marriages
Du Feu married three times across his life, and each marriage adds a different layer to his biography.
First Marriage: Shirley May Thompson
His first marriage was to a woman named Shirley May Thompson. This marriage produced two sons. The personal details and identities of those children are not well documented in public sources, so they are not included here. Du Feu was reportedly young when this marriage took place, and the relationship ended before his later, more widely noted marriages.
Marriage to Germaine Greer
In 1968, Du Feu married Australian writer and feminist scholar Germaine Greer. The marriage was brief. Some accounts describe the couple as having lived together for only a matter of weeks before separating, although the legal divorce followed later. The distinction matters because some sources refer to the marriage as lasting just a few weeks without clarifying that this refers to cohabitation, not the legal duration of the marriage.
Greer became one of the most prominent feminist voices of the twentieth century, particularly after the 1970 publication of The Female Eunuch. Her prominence brought Du Feu into biographical accounts of her life, even though the marriage itself was short-lived.
Marriage to Maya Angelou
Du Feu married American poet and author Maya Angelou in 1974. This is the connection that draws the most reader interest today. Sources generally place the end of the marriage in the early 1980s, though exact separation and divorce dates vary across different listings.
Angelou is best known as the author of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, her celebrated 1969 memoir. She was also a poet, civil rights activist, and one of the most widely read American writers of her generation. Her fame is the main reason people search for Du Feu’s name today — many readers come across him while researching her life and want to understand who he was.
Secondary accounts suggest that Angelou later wrote warmly about the marriage and considered it a meaningful relationship in her life. However, since the specific phrasing varies across sources and cannot be checked against a single confirmed primary quote, that impression is presented here cautiously rather than as a direct citation.
Paul Du Feu and Maya Angelou: The Connection People Search For
Of Du Feu’s three marriages, his relationship with Maya Angelou is the one most likely to bring readers to his name. Angelou’s life has been studied, celebrated, and written about extensively. Du Feu appears in that story as her husband during a period spanning roughly the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
It is worth being clear about what Du Feu’s role in her life was and was not. He was her husband — not a literary collaborator, not a co-author, and not a figure in the same public sphere she occupied. Their marriage was a personal relationship between a Welsh-born builder and craftsman and one of America’s most accomplished writers.
The genealogical connection that sometimes appears in searches — linking Mary Catherine du Feu (Paul’s mother) to the wider family circle during the marriage — is a detail for family history researchers rather than a major celebrity story. It simply reflects the ordinary family connections that form when two people marry.
Angelou’s own body of work, including her series of autobiographical books, remains the best source for understanding what her relationships meant to her. Readers interested in her perspective on marriage and personal life will find far more depth in her writing than in any secondary biography of Du Feu.
For general readers and researchers looking for reliable celebrity and public figure background, resources like Newbusinessdesk can offer broader context for understanding the people connected to well-known names.
Why His Name Still Appears in Searches Today?
Paul Du Feu was a relatively private man. He did not write major books, hold public office, or build a career in entertainment. His historical presence in search results and genealogy databases comes almost entirely from the two famous women he married.
That is not a criticism. It is simply the shape of his public footprint. Many people connected to famous figures appear in searches for exactly this reason — they were part of someone’s personal life, and that personal life has been documented and studied.
For genealogy researchers, his parents (Bernard Henry and Mary Catherine Kelly du Feu) and his sister (Veronica) help place him within a specific Welsh family line. For readers interested in Maya Angelou or Germaine Greer, he represents a biographical data point — someone who shared a chapter of life with two remarkable women.
A Brief Summary of What Is Known
Paul Du Feu was born in Wrexham, Wales in September 1935. He worked in building, renovation, and various creative trades over his lifetime. He married three times: first to Shirley May Thompson, with whom he had two sons; then to Germaine Greer in 1968; and finally to Maya Angelou in 1974, a marriage that lasted into the early 1980s.
He spent his later years in California and died in Oakland on January 1, 2013, at age 77. His parents were Bernard Henry du Feu and Mary Catherine Kelly du Feu, and he had a sister named Veronica.
Online records about his life contain some inconsistencies in spelling, dates, and career details. Where sources agree, the details above reflect the most consistent picture available. Where they disagree, that uncertainty is noted rather than glossed over.
He was not a famous man. But he was connected to two famous women, and that connection is enough to keep his name worth knowing.
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