Jorge Semprún
Encyclopedia
Jorge Semprún Maura (ˈxorxe semˈpɾun; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician
who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the era of Francisco Franco
, Semprún lived clandestinely in Spain working as an organizer for the exiled Communist Party of Spain, but was expelled from the party in 1964. After the death of Franco and change to a democratic government, he served as Culture Minister of Spain from 1988 to 1991. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director
Costa-Gavras
, Z
(1969) and The Confession
(1970), which dealt with the theme of persecution by governments. For his work on Z, Semprun was nominated for an Oscar. In 1996, he became the first non-French author elected to the Académie Goncourt
, which awards an annual literary prize.
.
, and then to The Hague
. His father was a diplomat in the mission of the "Spanish Republic in the Netherlands" up to the beginning of 1939. After the Netherlands officially recognized the Franco government, the family returned to France as refugees. Jorge Semprún enrolled at the Lycée Henri IV
and later the Sorbonne
.
During the Nazi
occupation of France, as a young man Semprún joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans – Main-d'Œuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI
), a Resistance
organization made up mostly of immigrants. After joining the Spanish Communist Party
in 1942 in France, Semprun was reassigned to the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), the Communist armed Resistance. In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo
and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp for his role in the Resistance
.
In 1945 Semprun returned to France and became an active member of the exiled Communist Party of Spain (PCE). From 1953 to 1962, he was an important organizer of the PCE's clandestine activities in Spain, using the pseudonym
of Federico Sánchez. He entered the party's executive committee in 1956. In 1964 he was expelled from the party because of "differences regarding the party line," and from then on he concentrated on his writing career.
Semprun has written many novel
s, plays
, and screenplay
s, for which he received several awards, including an Oscar in 1970 and the 1997 Jerusalem Prize
. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras
, dealing with the theme of persecution by governments, Z
(1969) and The Confession
(1970). For his work on Z, he was nominated for the Oscar for the best screenplay adaptation but did not win.
He was a member of the jury at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival
. After the change of governments in Spain, Semprun served from 1988 to 1991 as the appointed Minister of Culture
.
In 1996, Semprún became the first non-French author to be elected to the Académie Goncourt
, which awards an annual prize for literature written in French. In 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Ovid Prize
in recognition of his entire body of work, which focuses on "tolerance and freedom of expression."
Jorge Semprún served as the honorary chairman of the Spanish branch of Action Against Hunger
. He lived in Paris
.
and of being European, as informed by this period of history, including how Buchenwald was reopened by Soviet forces and then largely razed and planted over to hide the mass graves from this second dark episod.
Semprún's writing in Spanish deals with Spanish subject matter, and includes two volumes of memoirs: Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez, about his clandestine work in and later exclusion from the Spanish Communist Party (1953–1964), and Federico Sánchez se despide de ustedes, which deals with his term of service as Minister of Culture in the second Socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez (1988–1991). A novel in Spanish, Veinte años y un día, is set in 1956 and deals with recent history in Spain.
and incarceration in Buchenwald in fictionalized form. A feature of the novel, and with Semprún's work in general, is its fractured chronology. The work recounts his train journey and arrival at the concentration camp. During the long trip, the narrator provides the reader with flashbacks to his experiences in the French Resistance and flash-forwards to life in the camp and after liberation. The novel won two literary prizes, the Prix Formentor
and Prix littéraire de la Résistance ("Literary Prize of the Resistance").
In 1977, his Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez (Autobiography
of Federico Sánchez) won the Premio Planeta
, the most highly remunerated literary prize in Spain. In spite of the pseudonymous title, the work is Semprún's least fictionalized volume of autobiography, recounting his life as a member of the central committee of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), and his undercover activities in Spain between 1953 and 1964. The book shows a stark view of Communist organizations during the Cold War
, and presents a very critical portrait of leading figures of the PCE, including Santiago Carrillo
and Dolores Ibárruri
.
What a Beautiful Sunday (Quel beau dimanche !), his novel of life in Buchenwald and after liberation was published by Grasset in 1980. It purports to tell what it was like to live one day, hour by hour, in the concentration camp, but like Semprún's other novels, the narrator recounts events that precede and follow that day. In part, Semprún was inspired by A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
, and the work contains a criticism of Stalinism
as well as fascism
.
Literature or Life was published by Gallimard in 1994. The French title, L'Ecriture ou la vie, might be better translated as "Writing or Life". Semprún explores themes related to deportation, but the focus is on living with the memory of the experience and how to write about it. Semprún revisits scenes from previous works and gives rationales for his literary choices.
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the era of Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
, Semprún lived clandestinely in Spain working as an organizer for the exiled Communist Party of Spain, but was expelled from the party in 1964. After the death of Franco and change to a democratic government, he served as Culture Minister of Spain from 1988 to 1991. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras, is a Greek filmmaker, who lives and works in France, best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller, Z...
, Z
Z (film)
Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(1969) and The Confession
The Confession (1970 film)
The Confession is a 1970 French-Italian film directed by Costa Gavras and stars Yves Montand and Simone Signoret.It is based on the true story of the Czechoslovak communist Artur London, a defendant in the Slánský trial...
(1970), which dealt with the theme of persecution by governments. For his work on Z, Semprun was nominated for an Oscar. In 1996, he became the first non-French author elected to the Académie Goncourt
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt , usually called the académie Goncourt , is a French literary organization based in Paris. It was founded by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Goncourt...
, which awards an annual literary prize.
Early life and education
Jorge Semprún Maura was born in 1923 in Madrid. His mother was Susana Maura Gamazo, a daughter of Antonio Maura, who served several times as prime minister of Spain. His father José María Semprún Gurrea (1893–1966) was a liberal politician and governor in the Republic of Spain during the Spanish Civil WarSpanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
.
Émigrés and World War II
In the wake of Republican defeat in the Civil War, the Semprun family moved to FranceFrance
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...
, and then to The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. His father was a diplomat in the mission of the "Spanish Republic in the Netherlands" up to the beginning of 1939. After the Netherlands officially recognized the Franco government, the family returned to France as refugees. Jorge Semprún enrolled at the Lycée Henri IV
Lycée Henri IV
The Lycée Henri-IV is a public secondary school located in Paris. Along with Louis-le-Grand it is widely regarded as one of the most demanding sixth-form colleges in France....
and later the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
.
During the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
occupation of France, as a young man Semprún joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans – Main-d'Œuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI
FTP-MOI
The Francs-tireurs et partisans – main-d'œuvre immigrée were a sub-group of the Francs-tireurs et partisans organization, a component of the French Resistance. A wing composed mostly of foreigners, the MOI maintained an armed force to oppose the German occupation of France during World War II...
), a Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
organization made up mostly of immigrants. After joining the Spanish Communist Party
Spanish Communist Party
Spanish Communist Party , was the first communist party in Spain, formed out of the Federación de Juventudes Socialistas . The founders of the party, that had belonged to leftwing within FJS, included Ramón Merino Gracia, Manuel Ugarte, Pedro Illescasm Luis Portela, Tiburicio Pico and Rito Estaban...
in 1942 in France, Semprun was reassigned to the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), the Communist armed Resistance. In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp for his role in the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
.
In 1945 Semprun returned to France and became an active member of the exiled Communist Party of Spain (PCE). From 1953 to 1962, he was an important organizer of the PCE's clandestine activities in Spain, using the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Federico Sánchez. He entered the party's executive committee in 1956. In 1964 he was expelled from the party because of "differences regarding the party line," and from then on he concentrated on his writing career.
Semprun has written many novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, and screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
s, for which he received several awards, including an Oscar in 1970 and the 1997 Jerusalem Prize
Jerusalem Prize
The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society. It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Fair, and the recipient usually delivers an address when accepting the award...
. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras
Costa-Gavras, is a Greek filmmaker, who lives and works in France, best known for films with overt political themes, most famously the fast-paced thriller, Z...
, dealing with the theme of persecution by governments, Z
Z (film)
Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(1969) and The Confession
The Confession (1970 film)
The Confession is a 1970 French-Italian film directed by Costa Gavras and stars Yves Montand and Simone Signoret.It is based on the true story of the Czechoslovak communist Artur London, a defendant in the Slánský trial...
(1970). For his work on Z, he was nominated for the Oscar for the best screenplay adaptation but did not win.
He was a member of the jury at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival
1984 Cannes Film Festival
- Jury :*Dirk Bogarde *Franco Cristaldi *Michel Deville *Stanley Donen *Istvan Dosai *Arne Hestenes *Isabelle Huppert *Ennio Morricone...
. After the change of governments in Spain, Semprun served from 1988 to 1991 as the appointed Minister of Culture
Culture of Spain
The culture of Spain is based on a variety of influences.The Visigothic Kingdom left a sense of a united Christian Hispania that was going to be welded in the Reconquista. Muslim influences were strong during the period of 711 AD to the 15th century, especially linguistically...
.
In 1996, Semprún became the first non-French author to be elected to the Académie Goncourt
Académie Goncourt
The Société littéraire des Goncourt , usually called the académie Goncourt , is a French literary organization based in Paris. It was founded by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Goncourt...
, which awards an annual prize for literature written in French. In 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Ovid Prize
Ovid Prize
The Ovid Prize, established in 2002, is a literary prize awarded annually to an author from any country, in recognition of a body of work. Past recipients include Orhan Pamuk, Andrei Codrescu, Amoz Oz, Jorge Semprún and António Lobo Antunes. It is named in honour of the Roman poet Ovid, who died in...
in recognition of his entire body of work, which focuses on "tolerance and freedom of expression."
Jorge Semprún served as the honorary chairman of the Spanish branch of Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger
Action Against Hunger is an international humanitarian organization with a focus on ending world hunger. Action Against Hunger specializes in responding to emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disaster...
. He lived in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Marriage and family
Semprun married Loleh Bellon in 1949. Their son, Jaime Semprun (1947–2010), was also a writer. Then, Semprun married Colette Leloup in 1958, their sons: Dominique, Ricardo, Lourdes, Juan and Pablo.Style and themes
Semprún wrote primarily in French and alludes to French authors as much as to Spanish ones. Most of his books are fictionalized accounts of his deportation to Buchenwald. His writing is non-linear and achronological. The narrative setting shifts back and forth in time, exploring the past and future of key events. With each recounting, events take on different meanings. Semprún's works are self-reflexive. His narrators explore how events live on in memory and means of communicating the events of the concentration camp to readers who cannot fathom that experience. His recent work in this vein also includes reflections on the meaning of EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and of being European, as informed by this period of history, including how Buchenwald was reopened by Soviet forces and then largely razed and planted over to hide the mass graves from this second dark episod.
Semprún's writing in Spanish deals with Spanish subject matter, and includes two volumes of memoirs: Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez, about his clandestine work in and later exclusion from the Spanish Communist Party (1953–1964), and Federico Sánchez se despide de ustedes, which deals with his term of service as Minister of Culture in the second Socialist government of Felipe Gonzalez (1988–1991). A novel in Spanish, Veinte años y un día, is set in 1956 and deals with recent history in Spain.
Selected works
Semprún's first book, Le grand voyage (The Long Voyage in English, recently republished as The Cattle Truck), was published in 1963 by Gallimard. It recounts Semprún's deportationDeportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
and incarceration in Buchenwald in fictionalized form. A feature of the novel, and with Semprún's work in general, is its fractured chronology. The work recounts his train journey and arrival at the concentration camp. During the long trip, the narrator provides the reader with flashbacks to his experiences in the French Resistance and flash-forwards to life in the camp and after liberation. The novel won two literary prizes, the Prix Formentor
Prix Formentor
The Prix Formentor was an international literary prize awarded between 1961 and 1967. The Formentor Group offered two prizes, the Prix Formentor and the Prix International, . The Prix Formentor was given to previously unpublished work and the the Prix International was given to work already in...
and Prix littéraire de la Résistance ("Literary Prize of the Resistance").
In 1977, his Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez (Autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
of Federico Sánchez) won the Premio Planeta
Premio Planeta
The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original novel written in Spanish . It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta....
, the most highly remunerated literary prize in Spain. In spite of the pseudonymous title, the work is Semprún's least fictionalized volume of autobiography, recounting his life as a member of the central committee of the Spanish Communist Party (PCE), and his undercover activities in Spain between 1953 and 1964. The book shows a stark view of Communist organizations during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and presents a very critical portrait of leading figures of the PCE, including Santiago Carrillo
Santiago Carrillo
Santiago Carrillo Solares is a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain from 1960 to 1982.- Childhood and early youth :...
and Dolores Ibárruri
Dolores Ibárruri
Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez , known more famously as "La Pasionaria" was a Spanish Republican leader of the Spanish Civil War and communist politician of Basque origin...
.
What a Beautiful Sunday (Quel beau dimanche !), his novel of life in Buchenwald and after liberation was published by Grasset in 1980. It purports to tell what it was like to live one day, hour by hour, in the concentration camp, but like Semprún's other novels, the narrator recounts events that precede and follow that day. In part, Semprún was inspired by A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn was aRussian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. Through his often-suppressed writings, he helped to raise global awareness of the Gulag, the Soviet Union's forced labor camp system – particularly in The Gulag Archipelago and One Day in the Life of...
, and the work contains a criticism of Stalinism
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
as well as fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
.
Literature or Life was published by Gallimard in 1994. The French title, L'Ecriture ou la vie, might be better translated as "Writing or Life". Semprún explores themes related to deportation, but the focus is on living with the memory of the experience and how to write about it. Semprún revisits scenes from previous works and gives rationales for his literary choices.
Sources
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime (Université d'Artois, ed.), Cinéma et engagement : Jorge Semprún scénariste, nº 140, CinémAction, Corlet Éditions, 2011, 170 p.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «André Malraux chez Jorge Semprún: l'héritage d'une quête», in Revue André Malraux Review, n° 33, Michel Lantelme (editor), Norman, University of Oklahoma, 2005, p. 86-101.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «La dimensión biográfica de Veinte años y un día de Jorge Semprún», in Tonos. Revista Electrónica de Estudios Filológicos, n° 10, University of Murcia, José María Jiménez Cano (editor), 2005, available on line: http://www.um.es/tonosdigital/znum10/estudios/indicestudios.htm
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «Un eslabón perdido en la historiografía sobre la Guerra Civil: Las dos memorias de Jorge Semprún», in Cartaphilus. Revista de investigación y crítica estética, n° 5, University of Murcia, Vicente Cervera (editor), 2009, available on line: http://revistas.um.es/cartaphilus/issue/view/6131/showToc
- Johnson, Kathleen A. "The Framing of History: Jorge Semprun's La Deuxieme Mort de Ramon Mercader", in French Forum, vol. 20, n° 1, January 1995, p. 77-90.