Benjamin Vallotton

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Benjamin Vallotton (born January 10, 1877 in Gryon ( Vaud ); died May 19, 1962 in Sanary-sur-Mer ( Var , France )) was a Vaudois writer, teacher and editor in French-speaking Switzerland .

life and work

Benjamin Vallotton was the son of the pastor Paul Vallotton from Vallorbe , which at the University of Lausanne taught theology. Benjamin Vallotton first studied theology in Lausanne , then humanities in Munich and Paris . After graduating in 1911, he settled in Lausanne. There he taught literature at the ancient language grammar school of the Cantonal School in Lausanne until 1921. He then moved to Strasbourg in Alsace , where he worked as a teacher and editor of Alsace française and devoted himself to writing. In 1921 he became a member of the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium and was also made an honorary citizen of Vallorbe.

Benjamin Vallotton was a popular author of an extensive work in the tradition of Urbain Olivier (1810–1888). He wrote several dozen novels. He created the figure of the Commissaire Potterat (Police Commissioner Potterat) with local Vaudois color, which is always outraged. Vallotton published many novels that analyzed either the Vaudois customs or the psychological characteristics of the wartime. He was pacifist .

During the First World War he was distinguished by his critical attitude towards Germany . He spoke out against Switzerland's neutrality .

His novel À tâtons deals with the drama of blind people unfit for war and bears the dedication "À ceux qui voient et qui se plaignent ..." (Those who see and complain ...) . The preface begins with a quotation from a blind corporal: “Nous n'avons pas besoin pour être respectés et intéressants, du théâtre ou de la littérature. Nous sommes les aveugles de la guerre. Ça suffit! » (We don't need any theater or literature to be respected or interesting. We are the war blind. That's enough!) . He wrote a foreword to the French translation of My Religion by the deaf-blind American writer Helen Keller .

His daughters Gritou and Annie Vallotton published their diaries about their time in Sanary-sur-Mer .

Works

Editions and translations (selection):

  • Portes entr'ouvertes , 1905
  • Monsieur Potterat se marie , 1906
  • Sur la Pente , 1906 (play in five acts)
  • Le sergent battalion , 1907
  • Torgnoiuz , 1908
  • La famille Profit , 1909
    • German family profit. Rascher, Zurich / Leipzig 1916
  • La moisson est grande , 1910
  • Il ya peu d'ouvriers , 1911
  • Leurs œuvres les suivent , 1912
  • À travers la France en guerre, souvenirs d'Alsace , 1915
  • Les racines , 1915
  • Ce qu'en pense Potterat , 1915 ( digitized version )
  • On changerait plutôt le coeur de place , 1917
  • Les Loups , 1918
  • Au pays de la mort , 1918 ( digitized version )
  • Contribution in: French speaking narrators. A harvest of flowers (= Swiss storytellers . Volume 18). Huber & Co., Frauenfeld / Leipzig 1918
  • Et la Suisse , 1919
  • Police Commissioner Potterat . Translator Max Schwendimann. Association for the Dissemination of Good Writings , Volume 120. Zurich 1920
  • Ceux de Barivier , 1920
  • À tâtons. Payot, Paris 1921 ( partial online view )
  • Achille et Cie , 1922
  • Patience , 1923
  • Sur le roc , 1923
  • Nous sommes forts , 1929
  • Trilogy: Suspects! 1930, … Et voici la France , 1931, Pendant la fête , 1932
  • La foudre sur la maison , 1943
    • Lightning strikes the house. The fate of the Bouchard. Roman, Rascher, Zurich 1947
  • Do y viendras! ... , 1944
  • L'Alsace vous parle , 1946
  • Wonderful things are happening. God's life behind prison walls. Karl Bäuerle Verlag, Karlsruhe 1950
  • Sous le même toit , 1952

Memories (3 volumes):

  • Comme volent les années , 1960
  • Rude étape , 1961
  • À la rencontre des hommes , 1962

See also

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Benjamin Vallotton  - Sources and full texts

Individual references and footnotes

  1. ↑ cf. Maxime Feer: Swiss literature and its publishers : "[...] as far as western Switzerland is concerned, Lausanne and Geneva have completely ousted Paris for a long time ( Paul Seippel , Benjamin Vallotton, FC Ramuz and earlier Urbain Olivier)." In: Knowledge and Life. Swiss bi-monthly publication. XXI. Volume, October 1, 1918 - September 15, 1919, pp. 55–58 (here p. 56 ).
  2. ^ Daniel Maggetti: Vallotton, Benjamin. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  3. ^ Benjamin Vallotton on Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique .
  4. ↑ Ma religion. Librairie Fischbacher, 1931 ( partial online view ).
  5. ↑ Gritou and Annie Vallotton : C'était au jour le jour Carnets (1939–1944) (= Documents ). Payot, Paris 1995. - Cf. Magali L. Nieradka: The capital of German literature: Sanary-sur-Mer as a place of exile for German-speaking writers (= forms of memory. Volume 44. 2010, p. 116 ). See also: Uta Gerdes: Ecumenical solidarity with Christian and Jewish persecuted persons (= work on church contemporary history. Volume 41, 2005, p. 378 ).
personal data
SURNAME Vallotton, Benjamin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer, teacher and editor
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Gryon
DATE OF DEATH May 19, 1962
Place of death Sanary-sur-Mer ( Var ), France