Bernard Barbey

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Bernard Barbey (born July 2, 1900 in Valeyres-sous-Rances , † January 27, 1970 in Paris ) was a Swiss writer , diplomat ( cultural attaché ) and officer.

Life

After studying social sciences in Lausanne and Geneva , Barbey went to Paris to pursue a career as a writer and came into contact with authors such as Jean Cocteau and François Mauriac . In 1924 his first novel, Le Cœur gros ("The Big Heart") was published. He subsequently wrote other social novels and worked as an author and editor for the literary magazine La Revue hebdmomadaire .

Act as an officer

As a militia officer, Barbey was assigned to the staff of the 1st Army Corps , which before the Second World War was under the command of Colonel Corps (and later General) Guisan . Guisan put Barbey as a liaison officer to the staff of the French army in the preparations for maneuver H one. When the Swiss army was mobilized , Barbey was appointed to the so-called personal staff of the general (" Etat particulier du Général "), whose leadership he held as the successor to Samuel Gonard from spring 1940 until the end of the war.

After the war

In 1946, Barbey published excerpts from his diaries while serving as chief of General Guisan's personal staff. For the novel Chevaux abandonnés sur le champ de Bataille , Barbey was awarded the Grand Prix du Roman of the Académie française in 1951 . From 1945 to 1965 he was the Swiss cultural attaché in Paris, and from 1964 to 1970 he was Switzerland's representative at UNESCO .

reception

Historians in German-speaking Switzerland perceive Barbey mainly in his role as an officer, while in French-speaking Switzerland his work as a writer is emphasized more clearly. It is undisputed that Barbey not only edited operational orders and letters from the General to the Federal Council during his activity as Chief of General Guisan's staff, but also wrote them himself after consulting the General and submitted them to Guisan for signature. In French-speaking Switzerland, Barbey's literary work was appreciated more than in German-speaking Switzerland. Due to a lack of translations of Barbey's novels into German, his works have so far not been received in German-speaking countries.

Works

  • Le coeur gros. Novel . Editions Grasset, Paris 1924.
  • La maladère. Novel . Editions Grasset, Paris 1926.
  • Toute à tous. Novel . Gallimard, Paris 1930.
  • La maison d'Illusion. Novel . Libraire Stock, Paris 1933.
  • Ambassadeur de France. Novel . Libraire Stock, Paris 1934.
  • At dawn. Novel . ("Le crépuscule du matin"). Scientia, Zurich 1942 (translated by Jakob Anderer).
  • Five years in the general's command post: Diary of the chief of General Guisan's personal staff, 1940–1945 . ("PC du Général: Journal du chef de l'Etat-major particulier du Général Guisan, 1940-1945"). H. Lang & Cie, Bern 1948 (translated by Hermann Böschenstein ).
  • Chevaux abandonnés sur le champ de bataille. Novel. Julliard, Paris 1951.
  • From headquarters to headquarters: my diary as a liaison officer to the French army, 1939–1940 . ("Aller et retour: Mon journal pendant et après la drôle de guerre, 1939–1940"). Huber, Frauenfeld, 1967 (translated by Hans Ulrich Ganz).
  • PC du Général: Journal du chef de l'Etat-major particulier du Général Guisan . Editions Cabédita, Bière 2010, ISBN 978-2-88295-596-8 (new edition with commentary).

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gautschi: General Henri Guisan . 1994, p. 144 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Barbey, Bernard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer, officer and diplomat
DATE OF BIRTH July 2, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Valeyres-sous-Rances
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1970
Place of death Paris