Georges Darien
Encyclopedia
Georges Darien (6 April 1862 – 19 August 1921), was a French
writer associated with anarchism
and an outspoken advocate of Georgism
.
, and Françoise-Sidonie Adrien, née Chatel. His brother, Henri-Gaston Darien, was born two years later, in 1864. Henri-Gaston was later to become a peintre du genre specializing in interiors and scenes of Paris life. He exhibited in the Salons of 1896 and 1897, received the Légion d'honneur
in 1910, and died in 1926.
Darien's mother died in 1869. His father remarried an Alsatian
Protestant, Elise-Antoinette Schlumberger, born in 1839. Their daughter Jeanne was born in 1873 in Versailles
and died in 1914. Strict religiosity of Darien's stepmother contrasted with the anti-clericalist
views that he would come to adopt.
Following an undistinguished baccalaureate earned at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, in March 1881, Darien voluntarily enlisted in the army for five years. Between June 1883 and March 1886, he served in a disciplinary unit, the Compagnie de fusiliers de discipline, in North Africa
. His service there included a total of nearly a year of confinement in Gafsa, the Tunis
ian prison camp.
In 1889 Darien published his first book, Bas les cœurs!, a satire of the impact of the Franco-Prussian war
of 1870 and the Paris Commune
of 1871 on a French bourgeois family living in the provinces. It was followed in 1890 by Biribi, discipline militaire. As experienced personally by the author, the prison camp was not a mere penitentiary; it was the ultimate punishment that the French Army reserved for its insubordinates. The book inspired a campaign that succeeded, albeit only nominally, in the reform of prison camps. However, the Gafsa camp remained open until the 1920s, succumbing as a result of a campaign conducted by Albert Londres
. The same year saw the publication of Les Chapons and Les vrais Sous-offs, followed in 1891 by Les Pharisiens, a fictional indictment of French antisemitism and its most prominent advocate, Édouard Drumont
, and the only exception among the novels that Darien uniformly narrated in the first person.
Between 1893 and 1905, Darien frequently travelled to and resided in London. He embraced British culture and became a fluent speaker and writer of English. He also lived in Brussels
and Wiesbaden
. Many aspects of his life between 1891 and 1897 remain unknown. Darien's life-long paucity of official earnings has inspired some of his readers to impute the fictional exploits of Georges Randal, the daring burglar protagonist of his 1897 novel Le Voleur, to its author.
In 1899 Darien married Suzanne Caroline Abresch, born in 1863 in London, of German parents. In the following year he his violent pamphlet La Belle France. It was published in 1901 by Stock. In 1903 and 1904 Darien contributed articles to the anarchist periodical L'Ennemi du peuple until its demise, precipitated by his polemic with Charles Malato
. He played a prominent part among the organizers and participants of the Antimilitarist Congress that took place in Amsterdam
in June and July 1904. In the same year Darien published L'Épaulette, which inaugurated the program of complementing The Human Comedy
of Honoré de Balzac with his own Comédie inhumaine. Gottlieb Krumm: made in England. Written in English, this novel recounts the story of its eponym
ous narrator and protagonist, a nearly penniless adventurer who embarks for England with his wife and their three children after squandering her dowry in their native Germany. Krumm makes no secret of his character: "I am not hindered by common scruples (if I am not familiar with them, it is only because I wish to have for them a lasting respect, and familiarity breeds contempt)." Determined to make a fortune, he employs unorthodox means including arson, extortion, matrimonial swindle, and imposture. Krumm's unsavory stratagems yield spectacular success in the financial capital of the fin de siècle
.
Throughout his early life, Darien disclaimed all political affiliations:
by pointing out the convergence of the aspirations of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie towards their consolidation within a single class. His political idiosyncrasy gave way to an espousal of Georgism
, which he discovered some time in the late 1890s. Starting in 1912, Darien vigorously promoted the Georgist ideal of a single land value tax through the Ligue pour l'Impôt unique. Toward the same end, he involved himself in politics by running without any success in local, cantonal, and legislative elections of Paris.
Dedicating himself to theater, Darien saw Le Parvenu staged at the Bouffes du Nord
, followed by Chez les Zoaques, featuring young Sacha Guitry
. His activities between 1914 and 1918, during La Grande Guerre
, remain unknown. Widowed and remarried, Georges Darien died on 19 August 1921.
André Breton
characterized Darien as "A heart too big and beating too well not to knock in every sense against the walls of its cage." He described his writings as "the most rigorous assault that I know against hypocrisy, imposture, stupidity, cowardice".
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
writer associated with anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
and an outspoken advocate of Georgism
Georgism
Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...
.
Life
Georges-Hippolyte Adrien was born at 46, Rue du Bac in Paris, to linen draper Honoré-Charles-Emile Adrien, born in 1822 in the CharenteCharente
Charente is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.-History:Charente is one of the original...
, and Françoise-Sidonie Adrien, née Chatel. His brother, Henri-Gaston Darien, was born two years later, in 1864. Henri-Gaston was later to become a peintre du genre specializing in interiors and scenes of Paris life. He exhibited in the Salons of 1896 and 1897, received the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
in 1910, and died in 1926.
Darien's mother died in 1869. His father remarried an Alsatian
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
Protestant, Elise-Antoinette Schlumberger, born in 1839. Their daughter Jeanne was born in 1873 in Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
and died in 1914. Strict religiosity of Darien's stepmother contrasted with the anti-clericalist
Anti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen...
views that he would come to adopt.
Following an undistinguished baccalaureate earned at the Lycée Charlemagne in Paris, in March 1881, Darien voluntarily enlisted in the army for five years. Between June 1883 and March 1886, he served in a disciplinary unit, the Compagnie de fusiliers de discipline, in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. His service there included a total of nearly a year of confinement in Gafsa, the Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
ian prison camp.
In 1889 Darien published his first book, Bas les cœurs!, a satire of the impact of the Franco-Prussian war
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
of 1870 and the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
of 1871 on a French bourgeois family living in the provinces. It was followed in 1890 by Biribi, discipline militaire. As experienced personally by the author, the prison camp was not a mere penitentiary; it was the ultimate punishment that the French Army reserved for its insubordinates. The book inspired a campaign that succeeded, albeit only nominally, in the reform of prison camps. However, the Gafsa camp remained open until the 1920s, succumbing as a result of a campaign conducted by Albert Londres
Albert Londres
Albert Londres was a French journalist and writer. One of the inventors of investigative journalism, he criticized abuses of colonialism such as forced labour. Albert Londres gave his name to a journalism prize for Francophone journalists.- Biography :Londres was born in Vichy in 1884...
. The same year saw the publication of Les Chapons and Les vrais Sous-offs, followed in 1891 by Les Pharisiens, a fictional indictment of French antisemitism and its most prominent advocate, Édouard Drumont
Edouard Drumont
Édouard Adolphe Drumont was a French journalist and writer. He founded the Antisemitic League of France in 1889, and was the founder and editor of the newspaper La Libre Parole.- Early life :...
, and the only exception among the novels that Darien uniformly narrated in the first person.
Between 1893 and 1905, Darien frequently travelled to and resided in London. He embraced British culture and became a fluent speaker and writer of English. He also lived in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
and Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
. Many aspects of his life between 1891 and 1897 remain unknown. Darien's life-long paucity of official earnings has inspired some of his readers to impute the fictional exploits of Georges Randal, the daring burglar protagonist of his 1897 novel Le Voleur, to its author.
In 1899 Darien married Suzanne Caroline Abresch, born in 1863 in London, of German parents. In the following year he his violent pamphlet La Belle France. It was published in 1901 by Stock. In 1903 and 1904 Darien contributed articles to the anarchist periodical L'Ennemi du peuple until its demise, precipitated by his polemic with Charles Malato
Charles Malato
Charles Malato was a French anarchist and writer.He was born to a noble Neapolitan family, his grandfather Count Malato being a Field Marshal and the Commander-in-Chief of the army of the last King of Naples...
. He played a prominent part among the organizers and participants of the Antimilitarist Congress that took place in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in June and July 1904. In the same year Darien published L'Épaulette, which inaugurated the program of complementing The Human Comedy
La Comédie humaine
La Comédie humaine is the title of Honoré de Balzac's multi-volume collection of interlinked novels and stories depicting French society in the period of the Restoration and the July Monarchy .-Overview:...
of Honoré de Balzac with his own Comédie inhumaine. Gottlieb Krumm: made in England. Written in English, this novel recounts the story of its eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous narrator and protagonist, a nearly penniless adventurer who embarks for England with his wife and their three children after squandering her dowry in their native Germany. Krumm makes no secret of his character: "I am not hindered by common scruples (if I am not familiar with them, it is only because I wish to have for them a lasting respect, and familiarity breeds contempt)." Determined to make a fortune, he employs unorthodox means including arson, extortion, matrimonial swindle, and imposture. Krumm's unsavory stratagems yield spectacular success in the financial capital of the fin de siècle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
.
Throughout his early life, Darien disclaimed all political affiliations:
Darien anticipated Louis-Ferdinand Céline
(Quoted by Auriant.)
Louis-Ferdinand Céline
Louis-Ferdinand Céline was the pen name of French writer and physician Louis-Ferdinand Destouches . Céline was chosen after his grandmother's first name. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, developing a new style of writing that modernized both French and...
by pointing out the convergence of the aspirations of the proletariat and the bourgeoisie towards their consolidation within a single class. His political idiosyncrasy gave way to an espousal of Georgism
Georgism
Georgism is an economic philosophy and ideology that holds that people own what they create, but that things found in nature, most importantly land, belong equally to all...
, which he discovered some time in the late 1890s. Starting in 1912, Darien vigorously promoted the Georgist ideal of a single land value tax through the Ligue pour l'Impôt unique. Toward the same end, he involved himself in politics by running without any success in local, cantonal, and legislative elections of Paris.
Dedicating himself to theater, Darien saw Le Parvenu staged at the Bouffes du Nord
Bouffes du Nord
The Bouffes du Nord is a theater at 37 bis, boulevard de la Chapelle in the 10th arrondissement of Paris located near the Gare du Nord. It is registered as a historic monument.-History:...
, followed by Chez les Zoaques, featuring young Sacha Guitry
Sacha Guitry
Alexandre-Pierre Georges Guitry was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the Boulevard theatre.- Biography :...
. His activities between 1914 and 1918, during La Grande Guerre
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, remain unknown. Widowed and remarried, Georges Darien died on 19 August 1921.
André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
characterized Darien as "A heart too big and beating too well not to knock in every sense against the walls of its cage." He described his writings as "the most rigorous assault that I know against hypocrisy, imposture, stupidity, cowardice".
Books
- Bas les coeurs ! (1889)
- Biribi (1890)
- Le Voleur (1897)
- La Belle France (1898)
- L'Epaulette (1901) (not published)
Studies
- Auriant (Alexandre Hadjivassiliou), Darien et l'inhumaine comédie, Brussels: Ambassade du livre, 1966
- W.D. Redfern, Georges Darien: Robbery and Private Enterprise, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 1985
- David Bosc, Georges Darien, Éditions Sulliver, 1996
- Valia Gréau, Georges Darien et l'anarchisme littéraire, Editions du Lérot, 2002