Paul Éluard
Encyclopedia
Paul Éluard, born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French
poet
who was one of the founders of the surrealist
movement.
, the son of Clément Grindel and wife Jeanne Cousin. At age 16 he contracted tuberculosis
and interrupted his studies. He met Gala
, born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, who he married in 1917, in the Swiss sanatorium
of Davos
. Together they had a daughter named Cécile. Around this time Éluard wrote his first poems. He was particularly inspired by Walt Whitman
. In 1918, Jean Paulhan
“discovered” him and introduced him to André Breton
and Louis Aragon
. After having collaborated earlier with German Dadaist Max Ernst
in 1921, in 1922 Ernst entered France illegally and entered into a menage a trois
living arrangement with Éluard and Gala.
After a marital crisis, he traveled, returning to France in 1924. Éluard's writings of this period reflect his tumultuous experiences. In 1929 he had another bout of tuberculosis and separated from Gala when she left him for Salvador Dalí
.
In 1934, he married Nusch
(Maria Benz), a model and a friend of his friends Man Ray
and Pablo Picasso
, who was considered somewhat of a mascot of the surrealist movement. During World War II
, he was involved in the French Resistance
, during which time he wrote Liberty (1942), Les sept poèmes d'amour en guerre (1944) and En avril 1944: Paris respirait encore! (1945, illustrated by Jean Hugo
).
He joined the French Communist Party
in 1942, which led to his break from the Surrealists, and he later eulogised Joseph Stalin
in his political writings. Milan Kundera
has recalled he was shocked when he heard of Éluard's public approval of the hanging of Éluard's friend, the Prague writer Zavis Kalandra
in 1950.
His grief at the premature death of his wife Nusch in 1946 inspired the work "Le temps déborde" in 1947. The principles of peace, self-government, and liberty became his new passion. He was a member of the Congress of Intellectuals for Peace in Wrocław in 1948, which he persuaded Pablo Picasso to participate in.
Éluard met his last wife, Dominique Laure, at the Congress of Peace in Mexico in 1949. They married in 1951. He dedicated his work The Phoenix to her.
Paul Éluard died from a heart attack in November 1952. His funeral was held in Charenton-le-Pont
, and organized by the Communist Party.
He is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery
.
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...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
who was one of the founders of the surrealist
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
movement.
Biography
Éluard was born in Saint-Denis, Seine-Saint-Denis, 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...
, the son of Clément Grindel and wife Jeanne Cousin. At age 16 he contracted tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
and interrupted his studies. He met Gala
Gala Dalí
Gala Dalí , usually known simply as Gala, was the wife of first Paul Éluard, then Salvador Dalí, and an inspiration for them and many other writers and artists.- Early years :...
, born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, who he married in 1917, in the Swiss sanatorium
Sanatorium
A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
of Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
. Together they had a daughter named Cécile. Around this time Éluard wrote his first poems. He was particularly inspired by 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...
. In 1918, Jean Paulhan
Jean Paulhan
Jean Paulhan was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Française from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member of the Académie Française...
“discovered” him and introduced him to 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"....
and 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 :...
. After having collaborated earlier with German Dadaist Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
in 1921, in 1922 Ernst entered France illegally and entered into a menage a trois
Ménage à trois
Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
living arrangement with Éluard and Gala.
After a marital crisis, he traveled, returning to France in 1924. Éluard's writings of this period reflect his tumultuous experiences. In 1929 he had another bout of tuberculosis and separated from Gala when she left him for Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
.
In 1934, he married Nusch
Nusch Éluard
Nusch Éluard was a French performer, model and surrealist artist, best known as the second wife of Paul Éluard....
(Maria Benz), a model and a friend of his friends Man Ray
Man Ray
Man Ray , born Emmanuel Radnitzky, was an American artist who spent most of his career in Paris, France. Perhaps best described simply as a modernist, he was a significant contributor to both the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to each were informal...
and Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, who was considered somewhat of a mascot of the surrealist movement. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he was involved in the French 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...
, during which time he wrote Liberty (1942), Les sept poèmes d'amour en guerre (1944) and En avril 1944: Paris respirait encore! (1945, illustrated by Jean Hugo
Jean Hugo
Victor Jean Hugo is a South African professional golfer.Hugo matriculated at Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch, South Africa in 1994 and graduated three years later with a BA Degree from the University of Stellenbosch prior to becoming a professional golfer...
).
He joined the French Communist Party
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism.Although its electoral support has declined in recent decades, the PCF retains a large membership, behind only that of the Union for a Popular Movement , and considerable influence in French...
in 1942, which led to his break from the Surrealists, and he later eulogised Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in his political writings. Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera , born 1 April 1929, is a writer of Czech origin who has lived in exile in France since 1975, where he became a naturalized citizen in 1981. He is best known as the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, and The Joke. Kundera has written in...
has recalled he was shocked when he heard of Éluard's public approval of the hanging of Éluard's friend, the Prague writer Zavis Kalandra
Záviš Kalandra
Záviš Kalandra was a Czechoslovak historian and theorist of literature executed by Communists on charges of conspiracy and treason....
in 1950.
Later life
Éluard met his last wife, Dominique Laure, at the Congress of Peace in Mexico in 1949. They married in 1951. He dedicated his work The Phoenix to her.
Paul Éluard died from a heart attack in November 1952. His funeral was held in Charenton-le-Pont
Charenton-le-Pont
Charenton-le-Pont is a commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe....
, and organized by the Communist Party.
He is buried at Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...
.
Works
- Premiers poèmes, 1913
- Le Devoir, 1916
- Le Devoir et l'Inquiétude, 1917, (Artist's book with one etching by André Deslignères)
- Les Animaux et leurs hommes, les hommes et leurs animaux, 1920
- Une vague de rêve, 1924
- Mourir de ne pas mourir, 1924
- Au défaut du silence, 1925
- Capitale de la douleur, 1926
- Les Dessous d'une vie ou la Pyramide humaine, 1926
- L'Amour la Poésie, 1929
- Ralentir travaux, 1930, en collaboration avec André BretonAndré BretonAndré 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"....
et René CharRené CharRené Char was a 20th century French poet.-Biography:Char was born in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in the Vaucluse department of France, the youngest of four children of Emile Char and Marie-Therese Rouget, where his father was mayor and managing director of the Vaucluse plasterworks... - À toute épreuve, 1930
- Défense de savoir, 1932
- La Vie immédiate, 1932
- La Rose publique, 1934
- Facile, 1935
- Les Yeux fertiles, 1936
- Quelques-uns des mots qui jusqu'ici m'étaient mystérieusement interdits, 1937
- Cours naturel, 1938
- Donner à voir, 1939
- Poésie et vérité 1942, 1942
- Liberté, 1942
- Avis, 1943
- Les Sept poèmes d'amour en guerre, 1943
- Au rendez-vous allemand, 1944
- Poésie ininterrompue, 1946
- Le Cinquième Poème visible, 1947
- Notre vie, 1947
- À l'intérieur de la vue, 1947
- La Courbe de tes yeux, 1947
- Le temps déborde, 1947
- Ode à StalineJoseph StalinJoseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, 1950 - Le Phénix, 1951
- Picasso, dessins, 1952
Further reading
- Buckley, C. (translator) (1995). http://www.oysterriverpress.com/Shadows and SunShadows and SunShadows and Sun / Ombres et Soleil: Selected Writings is a comprehensive bilingual collection of the poems of Paul Eluard. Translated by Cicely Buckley and published in 1995 by Oyster River Press, the book is illustrated with the cover art “The dreamer” by Pablo Picasso, and six pen and ink...
/Ombres et Soleil: Poems and Prose (1913–1952) by Paul Eluard.] Durham, NH: Oyster River PressOyster River PressOyster River Press is a small press based in Durham, New Hampshire. The press specializes in new and international poetry, as well as books on Chinese myths, the environment, and the art of living. Bilingual editions of translations are also a focus...
, ISBN 0-9617481-7-6.
External links
- Nusch, portrait d'une muse du Surréalisme French biography of Nusch Éluard
- Biography
- Works by Paul Éluard (350 poems, public domain in Canada)
- La terre est bleue...