Pascal Pia

Pascal Pia , born as Pierre Durand , (born August 15, 1903 in Paris ; † September 27, 1979 there ) was a French writer, journalist, illustrator and scholar. The origin of the pseudonym is unknown. He also used others such as Pascal Rose , Pascal Fely , Avinin Mireur, and Léger Alype .

In 1922 he published the erotic font Les Princesses de Cythère . His La Muse en rut , a collection of erotic poems, appeared in 1928. He also illustrated erotic works such as the songs of Bilitis . In 1938 he founded the left-wing magazine Alger républicain in Algiers , which at that time was part of the French colony of Algeria. The magazine was banned in 1939.

During the Second World War , Pia was part of the French resistance as a member of the group " Combat ". In 1944 he became editor-in-chief of the secret resistance magazine Combat , using the pseudonym Pontault . He said, “We will try to publish a sensible newspaper. And because the world is absurd, it will fail ”.

Albert Camus worked as a journalist for Alger républicain and later also for Combat . Pia and Camus became friends and Camus dedicated his 1942 essay The Myth of Sisyphus to Pia. A collection of her letters was published in 2000. Pascal Pia was also a good friend of André Malraux .

Pia was a member ("Satrape") of the Collège de 'Pataphysique . He often expressed absurd and nihilistic feelings. At the end of his life he demanded the “right to nothing”, which should forbid others to write about him after his death.

Selected books written or edited by Pascal Pia

• La Muse en rut et autres poèmes (1928)
• Baudelaire par lui-même (1952)
• Apollinaire par lui-même (1954)
• Les livres de l'Enfer: bibliographie critique des ouvrages érotiques dans leurs différentes éditions du XVIe siècle à nos jours (1978) [The books of hell: critical biography of erotic works in their various editions from the 16th century to the present].
• Correspondance avec Albert Camus (2000)

Books and articles about Pascal Pia

• Pascal Pia by Jean José Marchand, Paris 1981
• Pascal Pia, ou, Le droit au néant by Roger Grenier, Paris 1989
• Pascal Pia, ou, L'homme libre (1903–1979) , by Michaël Guittard, dissertation, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 1999
• Bibliophilia: Pascal Pia, le clandesti by J -B Baronian, MAGAZINE LITTERAIRE , no.375 , (1999)

Web links

• Books written or edited by Pascal Pia (English and French)