"Letter" of Mathilde Lefebvre : a scientific analysis of a hoax

[Coraline]

Hello everyone,

Since the 110 years of the Titanic sinking are coming, I would like to share with you the summary of my complete analysis of the writting on the "letter" attributed to Mathilde Lefebvre, third class passenger.
In the thread about "the Lefebvre family" you can find a lot of ressources about that family and the beginning of the story of this letter discovered in 2017.
I want to thank this website for all the great information. It was because of encyclopedia titanica that I found all the information about the Lefebvre family and it helped a lot to put context in the analysis.

The analysis in English can be freely download here.

I'm a French psychomotor therapist, with a Bachelor degree in psychology and studies on Forensic Linguistics.

Researchers in Canada continue to work on that letter, but I finished my work and decided to make the conclusion public and free. The document in English is a summary with only the conclusions. If you need the full analysis in English, contact me here or at [email protected]

I hope this analysis can bring quality information to all who are interested in this letter and the Lefebvre family history. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that letter is a hoax based on the identity theft of a little girl who died in tragic conditions.

All we can do is to be very careful when things related to Titanic appears because a lot of hoaxers know the financial value of the word "Titanic".

May all the men, women and children who perished on this sad day, 110 years ago, rest in peace and have their identity and story protected.

 

[KingLucifer]

I just read your report. It was very intuitive and informing. I was wondering where I could read a copy of the original letter, to read it side by side with your presentation, just for fun. Je parle francais un peu, so I will enjoy reading the French text as well. (as best I can)

 

[Coraline]

I just read your report. It was very intuitive and informing. I was wondering where I could read a copy of the original letter, to read it side by side with your presentation, just for fun. Je parle francais un peu, so I will enjoy reading the French text as well. (as best I can)

Thank you for reading my work. You can find many photos with the text of the letter in the French/Canadian online press with the key words "lettre du Titanic". Here is an example : La lettre de Mathilde, vestige du Titanic ou contrefaçon?

If you speak French you can also download the whole analysis with the methodology and the complete data here : Titanic : une lettre, un canular – Expertise en écritures

Let me know what you think after comparing the analysis with the letter

Have a good reading!

 

[Seumas]

What did our parents tell us all when we were kids ? "If it looks or sounds too good to be true ..."

I hope this analysis can bring quality information to all who are interested in this letter and the Lefebvre family history. Sadly, I'm pretty sure that letter is a hoax based on the identity theft of a little girl who died in tragic conditions.

All we can do is to be very careful when things related to Titanic appears because a lot of hoaxers know the financial value of the word "Titanic".

An excellent point.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

All we can do is to be very careful when things related to Titanic appears because a lot of hoaxers know the financial value of the word "Titanic".

Absolutely true. Thre have been other infamous hoaxers; imposters like Helen Kramer (for Loraine Allison), Vera Hanson (for Virginia Martin-Emanuel), Walter Belford (the fictitious "Chief Night Baker") and so on. But in few cases, a simple misunderstanding rather than financial gain was the reason for the error, like non-victim Alan McRae of Aldinga.

But I confess that I felt vaguely disappointed to see confirmation that the"Mathilde Lefebvre letter" was a hoax; I always thought it was too far-fetched to be true but I suppose with the 13-year old girl victim as the supposed writer, there is odd empathy.

 

[Coraline]

Absolutely true. Thre have been other infamous hoaxers; imposters like Helen Kramer (for Loraine Allison), Vera Hanson (for Virginia Martin-Emanuel), Walter Belford (the fictitious "Chief Night Baker") and so on. But in few cases, a simple misunderstanding rather than financial gain was the reason for the error, like non-victim Alan McRae of Aldinga.

But I confess that I felt vaguely disappointed to see confirmation that the"Mathilde Lefebvre letter" was a hoax; I always thought it was too far-fetched to be true but I suppose with the 13-year old girl victim as the supposed writer, there is odd empathy.

I'm sorry I see your post just now. But you point to a very important aspect of this hoax : empathy.
A lot of hoax or lies in general are based on empathy which is supposed to grad us by the throat and paralyze us with emotions. It could be seen as harmless but the psychological effect is devastating for our free thinking ability.