Jacques Mercanton

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Jacques Mercanton 1990

Jacques Mercanton (born April 16, 1910 in Lausanne , † April 27, 1996 ibid) was a Swiss writer , essayist and university professor .

biography

Jacques Mercanton studied literature at the University of Lausanne and received his doctorate in 1940 on the subject of Poésie et religion dans l'oeuvre de Maurice Barrès .

He then stayed twice for longer periods in Paris , where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne and at the Collège de France . He made the acquaintance of James Joyce , for whom he worked for a while and to whom he would later dedicate a narrow but very personal book: Les Heures de James Joyce (1967). This was also translated into English, Spanish and German.

Between 1935 and 1938 he studied in Germany , Great Britain , Spain and Czechoslovakia . From 1938 to 1940 he worked as a lecturer at the University of Florence .

His first volume of short stories, Le Secret de vos cœurs , was published in 1942.

He then returned to Lausanne and taught French at the "Collège classique" until 1955, before being appointed to the chair of literature at the University of Lausanne. During this time he published several novels, the first of which, Thomas l'incrédule , received the Prix ​​Rambert in 1943 . This was followed by Le Soleil ni la mort (1948), De Peur que vienne l'oubli (1962), the volume "Italian Stories" La Sibylle (1967) and finally L'Été des Sept-Dormants (1974), his main work for which received the 1975 Grand Prix CF Ramuz, the Prix de la Ville de Lausanne (1982) and the Gottfried Keller Prize (1988).

He also worked for Albert Skira and his magazine Labyrinthe . So he met Thomas Mann in 1947 and Louis Massignon in 1955 . Although he received little recognition outside of Switzerland, he did not want to know anything about literature specifically from western Switzerland.

He was the nephew of the meteorologist, glaciologist and physicist Paul-Louis Mercanton .

Works

  • Le Secret de vos cœurs , short stories, Editions F. Rouge, Lausanne 1942
  • Thomas l'Incrédule , Roman, Editions F. Rouge, Lausanne 1943
  • Poètes de l'univers , Essays, Skira, Geneva 1947
  • Le Soleil ni la mort , Roman, La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1948
  • Christ au désert , five stories, La Baconnière, Neuchâtel 1948
  • La Joie d'amour , Roman, La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1951
  • Maroc, terre et ciel , together with Rouget Bernard, essay, La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1954
  • Celui qui doit venir , short story, 1956
  • Andalousie , essay, La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1957
  • De Peur que vienne l'oubli , La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1962
  • La Sibylle , Italian short stories, La Guilde du Livre, Lausanne 1967, German by Markus Hediger : Der Verbahre von Grado , Benziger , Zurich 1984
  • Les Heures de James Joyce , essay, Editions L'Age d'Homme, Lausanne 1967, German by Markus Hediger: Die Stunden des James Joyce , Lenos Verlag , Basel 1993
  • L'Été des Sept-Dormants , Roman, Bertil Galland, Vevey 1974
  • L'Amour major , short stories, Editions de l'Aire, Lausanne 1980
  • Le Siècle des grandes ombres , Essays, Editions de l'Aire, Lausanne 1981
  • Mozart avant l'adieu et autres essais , Essays, Editions de la Différence, Paris 1991
  • Racine devant Dieu , Essay, Editions de la Différence, Paris 1997
  • Le Rêve arabe , Essays, Editions de l'Aire, Vevey 1997

bibliography

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mercanton, Jacques
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss writer, essayist and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH April 16, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Lausanne
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1996
Place of death Lausanne