Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #7: Roger Stéphane

Roger Stéphane (né Roger Worms) (1919–94) was a writer and journalist, a member of the Resistance, and a co-founder of L'Observateur. He was an admirer of the work of Stendhal, Proust and T. E. Lawrence and a friend of Georges Simenon. He was one of the first campaigners for gay rights. He wrote several biographies on, for instance, Simenon, Lawrence and Cocteau, and, ill and in poverty, killed himself.

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #6: Missak Manouchiank

Missak Manouchian (1906–44) was an Armenian poet and journalist who moved to France in 1925. As a member of the French Resistance, he was shot in 1944.

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #5:Jules Boucher

Jules Boucher (1903 – 1955) was a writer, occultist, alchemist and free-mason. His works include La Symbolique maçonnique (1948) and Manuel de magie pratique (1941).

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #4: Abdel Hafed Benotman

'Abdel Hafed BENOTMAN

1960 – [2015]

'Ça valait pas la peine

mais ça valait le coup !

Enfin libérable...'

Abdel Hafed Benotman was of Algerian descent and wrote detective novels, short stories, poems, songs, plays and film scenarios. He was guilty of many thefts and bank robberies and spent several occasions behind bars. He was born in France and spent his childhood in the Latin Quarter. Later, he set up theatre workshops for various groups of people: psychotic children, elderly people, delinquants, and the handicapped. Back in prison in 1990, his collection of short stories, Les Forcenés, was published in 1993. 

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #3: Arthur Adamov

First recognized along with the likes of Samuel Beckett and Eugene Ionesco as a defining figure at the forefront of the theatre of the absurd, French playwright Adam Adamov had a fairly prolific career, writing twenty plays between 1947 and his death in 1970. Now though he has fallen into obscurity. John J. McMann provides a study of Adamov's work which traces the playwright's artistic development and explores his role in defining the avant-garde and political theaters of France.

Adam Adamov doesn't get much of a grave here, which is absurd, but then like Alfred Jarry's grave is pretty much to be expected. Adamov wrote about twenty plays, but is now almost forgotten: in 1962 Martin Esslin's Theatre of the Absurd lists ten authors in huge letters on the cover of the Pelican version, and Adamov is one of them. But Esslin accepting the OBE from her royal etc, now that really is absurd...

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #2: Artur London

'Artur LONDON

GERARD

1915 . 1986 

-------

Lise RICOL

LONDON

1916 . 2012

-------'

The memorial on the grave to the brave work of Lise for the workers and the oppressed, with a translation in Catalan.

As a couple, man and wife published L'Aveu (lit. 'The Confession') in 1968, which was an autobiographical account of London's experience of the Prague trials. Costa-Gavras turned the book into a film starring Yves Montand and Simone Signoret.

Le Cimetière parisien d'Ivry, Val-de-Marne (94): #1: Georges Jamati

Finding the grave of Georges Jamati (1894–1954) caused me to stumble, break my glasses (which needed renewing anyway), and gave me several large scratches and bruises. No idea why, as it certainly hadn't been raining, I've been in many cemeteries which are very frightening to negotiate but this one isn't, so it's just the way things go. Oh yes, Jemati. The cemetery guide describes him as a playwright and a writer of non-fiction, although the only play I can definitely pin him down to is Le Complot (lit. 'The Plot') of 1934. I'm obviously open to correction, but he seems more preoccupied with theatre theory, such as his Théâtre et vie intérieure or Théâtre et collectivité (1954).

Paris 2017: Hyper Cacher and terrorism, Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (94)

'À LA MÉMOIRE DES VICTIMES

DE L'ATTENTAT ANTISÉMITE

DU 9 JANVIER 2015

PERPÉTRÉ DANS LES LOCAUX

DU MAGASIN HYPER CACHER

PHILIPPE BRAHAM 45 ANS

YOHAN COHEN 20 ANS

YOAV HATTAB 21 ANS

FRANÇOIS-MICHEL SAADA 63 ANS

ILS SONT MORTS VICTIMES DU TERRORISME'

Paris 2017: Alexandra David-Néel in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (94)

In Saint-Mandé is the Jardin Alexandra David-Néel (1868–1969), whom this plaque calls 'the most famous female explorer in the world', which is perhaps true. But she was certainly born in Saint-Mandé at 57 Cours de Vincennes (now Avenue de Paris), near the entrance to the Hôpital Militaire Bégin. The plaque goes on to say that she made many journeys into Europe and Africa, then Asia, and that she was the first female western explorer to enter the forbidden city of Llasa. The plaque further relates that she died in Digne-les-Bains in her 101th year, which I recorded on my visit to Digne here. The small park, interestingly, has different areas dedicated to maps of the continents of the world.

Paris 2017: Cimetière Nord de Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (94) #2: J. J. Grandville

 

Jean-Jacques Grandville, the pseudonym of Jean Ignace Isidore Gérard (1803–47), was a caricaturist and illustrator. He is perhaps most remembered for his illustrations of La Fontaine's work.

Paris 2017: Cimetière Nord de Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne (94) #1: Juliette and Claire Drouet

This plaque is outside the entrance to Saint-Mandé cemetery (Nord), and explains the reason for the twin tombs here relating to Victor Hugo. Before becoming Hugo's mistress, Juliette Drouet had a relationship with Jean-Jacques (or James) Pradier, from which Claire was born in 1826. Hugo loved her as his own daughter, was inspired by her when writing Les Contemplations, and she grew up in Saint-Mandé but died there in 1846 at the age of twenty. Juliette died in 1883 and, according to her wishes, was buried next to her daughter. The plaque says that Hugo, devastated, could not lead the procession and that it was Auguste Vacquerie who gave the farewell speech.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #10: Jean-Jacques Krafft

Jean-Jacques Krafft (1910–97) was a sculptor who worked in various materials, but particularly in wood in his later years.  He spent much of his time in the 12th arrondissement, and is noted for both his religious and his nude works.

This is the last of the graves I noted in Thiais. Again, I thank H. for helping us so much with our searches, and he has recently informed me that the prolific English writer Peter de Polnay (1906–1984) is also buried in this cemetery: we shall be back next year!

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #9: Paul-Clément Jagot

'PAUL C.

JAGOT

1889–1962'

Paul-Clément Jagot was an occultist and a very prolific writer of works on personal development, hygiene, esotericism, applied psychology, hypnotism, parapsychology, etc. His Wikipédia entry calls him one of the precursors of New Age thinking, but gives no reference to back this up.

Born into a family of modest means, Jagot was an autodidact with a prodigious memory and of great erudition.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #8: Francisco Boix-Campo

'FRANCISCO BOIX-CAMPO

DÉPORTÉ EN 1941, À L'ÂGE DE 21 ANS,

AU CAMP DE CONCENTRATION DE MAUTHAUSEN.

DÉCÉDÉ LE 7.7.1951

DES SUITES DE SA DÉPORTATION.

ANIMÉ D'UN GRAND COURAGE, IL SUBTILISA

AUX S.S. DES DOCUMENTS PHOTOGRAPHIQUES

ACCABLANTS POUR LES NAZIS QUI IMPOSÈRENT

LE RÉGIME CONCENTRATIONNAIRE.

L'AMICALE DES DÉPORTÉS DE MAUTHAUSEN'

'FRANCISCO BOIX-CAMPO

DEPORTED IN 1941, AT THE AGE OF 21,

TO MAUTHAUSEN CONCENTRATION CAMP.

DIED 7.7.1951

DUE TO COMPLICATIONS RELATING TO HIS DEPORTATION.

MOTIVATED BY HUGE COURAGE, HE HID

FROM THE S.S. PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTS

DAMNING FOR THE NAZIS WHO IMPOSED

THE CONCENTRATIONARY RÉGIME.

THE ASSOCIATION OF MAUTHAUSEN DEPORTEES'

Boix, as he is usually known, was a photographer and a Spanish republican exiled in France in 1939. In Mauthausen he was assigned to the photographic department. In 1946 he was a witness at the Nuremberg trails, where he provided photographic evidence of Nazi atrocities as well as the involvement of high-ranking former Nazi officials in Mauthausen concentration camp.

He later worked as a reporter for such publications as Ce soir, L'Humanité, and Regards.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #7 Jean Hérold-Paquis

'Jean HÉROLD-PAQUIS

1912 – 1945'

–––––––––––––

Jean Hérold-Paquis was an extreme right-wing French radio journalist shot dead on 11 October 1945 at Fort de Châtillon, being noted for his pro-German activities with Radio Paris under the Vichy régime. In the previous decade he had worked for the fascists in the Spanish Civil War. His epitaph: 'Ce n'est qu'un au revoir mes frères...' ('This is only an au revoir, my brothers') was no doubt intended to have a chilling ring to it.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #6: Eugène/Ievgueni Zamiatine | Yevgeny Zamyatin

'EUGÈNE ZAMIATINE

ÉCRIVAIN RUSSE

19.I.1884 – 10.III.1937'

Yevgeny Zamyatin (in English spelling) is most noted for his science fiction novel We, set in a police state, which was published in Russian in France in 1920* and in translation in English in 1924. In 1923 it was banned in the Soviet Union until 1988. Zamyatin went into exile in France in 1931.

*The later French translation is called Nous autres.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #5: Han Ryner | Henri Ner

'HAN RYNER

HENRI NER

3 DÉCEMBRE 1861

5 JANVIER 1838'

The dates of Henri Ner (who preferred to be call himself Han Ryner) are in conflict here with Wikipédia, which claims he was born on 7 December and died on the 6 December, but these are minor matters of little importance.

Of much greater importance to me (as Ryner is a fascinating character) is the inscription lower down on the upright stone, which is difficult to read because of the weathering and the slight blurring of the image, but even more difficult to understand (for me at least) is the meaning of the inscription itself. What are the 'trois jours' he's referring to, and how does the inscription relate to the Greek (which I don't understand anything of anyway) below the French? I suspect that the French is a quotation from one of his many books, although I can find nothing online, and I've searched a number of his books. This is my reading of the French:

'HONORÉ[,] COMBIEN DURERONT

MES "TROIS JOURS" [?]

MAIS JE SUIS DE CEUX

QUI LIRONT CETTE INSCRIPTION [:]'

And then the Greek begins.

Ryner was a pacifist anarchist and a very prolific writer of novels, stories, essays, plays, and poetry. For Ryner, freedom is interior and he was much influenced by the ancient Greeks, particularly the Stoics. Two books give an idea of the range of his interests: Prostitués, études critiques sur les gens de lettres d'aujourd'hui (1904) (a critique of writers of the day) and L'Homme-fourmi (1901), about a man who turns into an ant. Some of his works were kinds of parables.

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #4: Joseph Roth

Our search for the graves in Thiais which follow was greatly assisted by an extremely helpful man who wishes simply to be known as Mister H. Many thanks to you: you saved us a great deal of time!

'JOSEPH ROTH

ÉCRIVAIN AUTRICHIEN

MORT À PARIS EN EXIL

2.9.1894 – 27.5.1939'

Roth's books – which were due to be destroyed by the Nazis – were marked by nostalgia for the Jewish past. Roth exiled himself as soon as Hitler took power in 1933, eventually settling in Paris. In 1939 he collapsed in front of his local – the Café Tournon, above which he lived – and died four days later of alcohol-related illness.

Some of his noted works are Hôtel Savoy (1924), Le poids de la grâce (1930), La Marche de Radetzky (1932), and La Crypte des Capucins (1938).

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #3: Marcel Thiébaut

'MARCEL THIÉBAUT

ÉCRIVAIN

1897–1961'

Thiébaut was a literary critic who ran Revue de Paris almost on his own for some years. He also wrote plays, including Doris (1946), Le Prince d'Aquitaine (1947), and Les Bonnes cartes (1949).

Cimetière parisien de Thiais, Val-de-Marne (94), Île-de-France #2: Étienne Hadju

'Je suis amoureux 1957

ÉTIENNE HADJU 1907–1996'

These words, which of course translate as 'I'm in love', are in fact the title of this work of sculpture by Étienne Hadju, made in 1957, which forms Hadju's gravestone: the 'folds' presumably represent a couple under a sheet in a bed, and this is quite a remarkable sight.

Hadju was a sculptor of the nouvelle École de Paris persuasion. He was born in Romania of Hungarian parents and went to Paris in 1927, where he was for a brief time a student of Antoine Bourdelle, and then of Paul Niclausse. He then discovered Fernand Léger and from 1930 he associated with Vieira da Silva Árpád Szenes.