Pierre-Henri Simon
Pierre-Henri Simon (born January 16, 1903 in Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde, Charente-Maritime department , † September 20, 1972 in Ville-d'Avray ) was a French author, journalist, Romance scholar and literary scholar.
life and work
Simon grew up in his birthplace, was taken out of school (considered blasphemous) at the age of 8 and successfully raised by his grandfather for four years. He attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris , from 1923 the École normal supérieure and passed the Agrégation . He became a high school teacher in Saint-Quentin and Chartres.
In 1928 the Catholic University of Lille appointed him to its chair in French literature. His book on Catholics and money (Paris 1936) became a scandal, and in 1938 he moved to Ghent to attend the École des hautes études (founded in 1924 against the Flemish-speaking university). As a war participant, he spent almost five years in German captivity (Oflag Nuremberg and Lübeck). From 1949 to 1963 he held the chair for French literary studies at the University of Friborg . From 1961 he was the leading literary critic of the daily Le Monde . In 1966 he was elected to the Académie française .
Simon has published over 40 books (novels, literary studies and committed essays, including against torture in the Algerian war, Paris 1957). In 1950 he was honored for his work Les Raisins verts with the Prix du Renouveau français , which was awarded by the Association of French-speaking Catholic Writers.
Works
Novels
- Les Valentin, Paris 1931
- L'Affût, Paris 1946
- Le Roi des Brises ou la rançon d'amour. Conte, Paris 1946
- Les Raisins verts, Paris 1950 (German: Green grapes, Frankfurt am Main 1951, 1974 and T. The fathers ate green grapes)
- Celle qui est née un dimanche. Récit, Neuchâtel 1952, 2004
- Les Hommes ne veulent pas mourir, Paris 1953 (German: Years in Hexenwiese, Freilassing 1961)
- Elsinfor. Roman, Paris 1956, 2004
- Les regrets et les jours. Vers et prose, Paris 1956
- Portrait d'un officier. Récit, Paris 1958, 1971 (German: story of an officer, Tübingen 1960)
- Le Somnambule, Paris 1960 (Figures à Cordouan 1)
- Histoire d'un bonheur, Paris 1965 (Figures à Cordouan 2; German: Geschichte einer Glücks, Zürich 1966)
- La Sagesse du soir, Paris 1971 (Figures à Cordouan 3)
- Figures à Cordouan, Paris 2007
Literary studies
- Georges Duhamel ou le Bourgeois sauvé, Paris 1947
- L'homme en procès: Malraux, Sartre, Camus, Saint-Exupéry, Neuchâtel 1949, 1965
- Procès du héros: Montherlant, Drieu La Rochelle, Jean Prévost, Paris 1950
- Témoins de l'homme. The human condition in the contemporary literature. Proust, Gide, Valéry, Claudel, Montherlant, Bernanos, Malraux, Sartre, Camus, Paris 1951, 1967 (lecture 1950-1951 at the Institut d'études politiques of the Sorbonne)
- Mauriac par lui-même, Paris 1953, 1961
- L'esprit et l'histoire. Essai sur la conscience historique dans la littérature du XXe siècle, Paris 1954, 1969, 1974
- Histoire de la Littérature française du XXe siècle 1900-1950, 2 vols., Paris 1956, 1957, 1967
- La littérature du péché et de la grace. Essai sur la constitution d'une littérature chrétienne depuis 1880, Paris 1957
- Théâtre et Destin. La signification de la renaissance dramatique en France au XXe siècle, Paris 1959 (lecture 1958-1959 at the Institut d'études politiques of the Sorbonne)
- Presence de Camus, Paris 1962
- Le jardin et la ville, Paris 1962
- Le Domaine héroïque des lettres françaises, Paris 1963
- Diagnostic des lettres françaises contemporaines, Brussels 1966
Dedicated essay writing
- L'école et la nation. Aspects de l'éducation nationale, Juvisy 1934
- Destins de la personne, Paris 1935
- Les catholiques, la politique et l'argent, Paris 1936 (Spanish: Buenos Aires 1938)
- Discours sur la guerre possible, Paris 1937
- L'Église et la Révolution sociale, Paris 1938
- Préparer l'après-guerre, Paris 1940
- Recours au poème. Chants du captif, Neuchâtel 1943
- La France à la recherche d'une conscience, Paris 1944
- De la République. Essai sur la future constitution de la France, Paris 1945
- Définitions pour servir l'Amitié française, Paris 1946
- Contre la torture, Paris 1957
- La France a la fièvre, Paris 1958
- L'école entre l'Église et la République, Paris 1959
- Ce que je crois, Paris 1966 (German: What I believe in, Tübingen 1967)
- Pour un garçon de vingt ans. Essai, Paris 1967
- Questions aux savants. Essai, Paris 1969 (Spanish Madrid 1970)
- L'Homme et sa Vérité. Dialogue entre Pierre-Henri Simon and Albert Delaunay, Paris 1972
- Parier pour l'homme, Paris 1973 (texts from Le Monde)
literature
- Candide Moix, Pierre-Henri Simon, Paris 1969 (Classiques du XXe siècle 101)
- Pierre-Henri Simon (ed.), Paul Verlaine, Sagesse (avec une étude sur Pierre-Henri Simon et des notes complémentaires sur "Sagesse" par Alain Faudemay), Friborg 1982
- Pierre-Henri Simon. Actes du colloque tenu à Rome le 12 December 1996, ed. by Thérèse Boespflug and Jacotte Lucet, Paris 1999
Web links
- Literature by and about Pierre-Henri Simon in the SUDOC catalog (Association of French University Libraries)
- Short biography and list of works of the Académie française (French)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Simon, Pierre-Henri |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French author, journalist, Romance studies and literary scholar |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 16, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint-Fort-sur-Gironde, Charente-Maritime department |
| DATE OF DEATH | 20th September 1972 |
| Place of death | Ville-d'Avray |