Jean Prévost
Encyclopedia
Jean Prévost was a French writer , journalist, and Resistance
fighter.
Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours
, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in Montivilliers
. near Rouen
, where his father was principal. In 1911, he moved to the prestidigious Lycée Pierre Corneille
in Rouen. In 1918, he transferred to the lycée Henri-IV in Paris, where he studied under the philosopher Alain
, to prepare for his entry to the École normale supérieure
, in 1919.
In 1926 he married Marcelle Auclair with whom he had three children (Michel, Françoise and Alain).
In June 1925, Adrienne Monnier
launched a French language
review, le Navire d’Argent, and invited Prévost to be its literary editor. Le Navire d'Argent was international in its scope and published American works in translation as well as devoting an issue (March 1926) to American writers including Walt Whitman
, William Carlos Williams
and E. E. Cummings
. It also first introduced Ernest Hemingway
in translation to French audiences. Prévost was the first to commission a work from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
, publishing The Aviator in the review's eleventh issue. After twelve issues, the project had to be abandoned as the effort and the cost was more than Monnier could bear.
At the beginning of World War II, he was mobilized and assigned to telephone control at Le Havre
. After his first marriage ended, he married Claude Van Biema, a doctor. He was evacuated by sea to Casablanca and returned to France later.
He joined the underground National Committee of Writers, created by Louis Aragon
and his wife, and took part in the creation of the clandestine newspaper Les Étoiles at the end of 1942. He wrote a doctoral thesis: La création chez Stendhal, essai sur le métier d'écrire et la psychologie de l'écrivain (Creativity in Stendhal
, essay on the craft of writing and the psychology of the writer), which won the grand prize for literature of the Académie française
in 1943.
He was a Resistance
fighter under the name of Captaine Goderville (the village where his father was from). Biographer Jérôme Garcin writes that Prévost fought with "a gun in his hand and a knife in his pocket and, in his backpack, the unfinished manuscript of his Beaudelaire together with a portable typewriter". He was killed in a German ambush at the Pont Charvin, in Sassenage
, on 1 August 1944.
The lycées (secondary schools) in Villard-de-Lans
and Montivilliers
are named in his honor.
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
fighter.
Born in Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours
Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours
Saint-Pierre-lès-Nemours is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* * *...
, Prévost was educated (from 1907 to 1911) at the primary school in Montivilliers
Montivilliers
Montivilliers is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A large light industrial and farming town by the banks of the river Lézarde in the Pays de Caux, situated just north of Le Havre, at the junction of the D489, D52, D926 and D31...
. near Rouen
Rouen
Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...
, where his father was principal. In 1911, he moved to the prestidigious Lycée Pierre Corneille
Lycée Pierre Corneille (Rouen)
The Lycée Pierre-Corneille is a school in Rouen, France. It was founded by the Archbishop of Rouen, Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon and run by the Jesuits to educate the children of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie in accordance with the purest doctrinal principles of Roman Catholicism...
in Rouen. In 1918, he transferred to the lycée Henri-IV in Paris, where he studied under the philosopher Alain
Émile Chartier
Émile-Auguste Chartier, commonly known as Alain was a French philosopher, journalist, and pacifist.Alain entered lycée d'Alençon in 1881 and studied there for five years...
, to prepare for his entry to the École normale supérieure
École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens....
, in 1919.
In 1926 he married Marcelle Auclair with whom he had three children (Michel, Françoise and Alain).
In June 1925, Adrienne Monnier
Adrienne Monnier
Adrienne Monnier was a French poet, bookseller and publisher and an important figure in the modernist writing scene in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.-"La Maison des Amis des Livres":...
launched a French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
review, le Navire d’Argent, and invited Prévost to be its literary editor. Le Navire d'Argent was international in its scope and published American works in translation as well as devoting an issue (March 1926) to American writers including Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
and E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
. It also first introduced Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
in translation to French audiences. Prévost was the first to commission a work from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry , officially Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint Exupéry , was a French writer, poet and pioneering aviator. He became a laureate of France's highest literary awards, and in 1939 was the winner of the U.S. National Book Award...
, publishing The Aviator in the review's eleventh issue. After twelve issues, the project had to be abandoned as the effort and the cost was more than Monnier could bear.
At the beginning of World War II, he was mobilized and assigned to telephone control at Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
. After his first marriage ended, he married Claude Van Biema, a doctor. He was evacuated by sea to Casablanca and returned to France later.
He joined the underground National Committee of Writers, created by Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon , was a French poet, novelist and editor, a long-time member of the Communist Party and a member of the Académie Goncourt.- Early life :...
and his wife, and took part in the creation of the clandestine newspaper Les Étoiles at the end of 1942. He wrote a doctoral thesis: La création chez Stendhal, essai sur le métier d'écrire et la psychologie de l'écrivain (Creativity in Stendhal
Stendhal
Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...
, essay on the craft of writing and the psychology of the writer), which won the grand prize for literature of the Académie française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...
in 1943.
He was a Resistance
Maquis (World War II)
The Maquis were the predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance. Initially they were composed of men who had escaped into the mountains to avoid conscription into Vichy France's Service du travail obligatoire to provide forced labour for Germany...
fighter under the name of Captaine Goderville (the village where his father was from). Biographer Jérôme Garcin writes that Prévost fought with "a gun in his hand and a knife in his pocket and, in his backpack, the unfinished manuscript of his Beaudelaire together with a portable typewriter". He was killed in a German ambush at the Pont Charvin, in Sassenage
Sassenage
Sassenage is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.-See also:*Urban unit of Grenoble*Parc naturel régional du Vercors...
, on 1 August 1944.
The lycées (secondary schools) in Villard-de-Lans
Villard-de-Lans
Villard-de-Lans is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.The town is a centre for skiing in winter and hiking and hot air ballooning in other seasons.-1968 Winter Olympics:...
and Montivilliers
Montivilliers
Montivilliers is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A large light industrial and farming town by the banks of the river Lézarde in the Pays de Caux, situated just north of Le Havre, at the junction of the D489, D52, D926 and D31...
are named in his honor.
Literary works
- Plaisirs des sports, 1925 ;
- Dix-huitième année, 1928 ;
- Les frères Bouquinquant, 1930 ;
- Vie de Montaigne, essai, 1931
- Histoire de la France depuis la guerre, 1932 ;
- Le sel sur la plaie, roman, 1934 ;
- La chasse du matin, roman, 1937 ;
- Lucie-Paulette, 1935 ;
- La Terre est aux hommes, 1936 ;
- Usonie, esquisse de la civilisation américaine, 1939 ;
- Beaudelaire, essai, 1953.