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Jean-Paul Clébert

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Jean-Paul Clébert
Born(1926-02-26)26 February 1926
Paris France
Died21 September 2011(2011-09-21) (aged 85)
Oppède, France
OccupationWriter, Journalist
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Jean-Paul Clébert (born 23 February 1926 in Paris and died on 21 September 2011 in Oppède) was a French writer.

Biography

Before completing his studies in a Jesuit college, Jean-Paul Clébert left to join the French Resistance in 1943 at the age of 16. After the liberation, he spent six months in Asia and then returned to France. He described his unusual life as follows:

“My secondary education was interrupted by the war but continued as a prisoner. I have never had a regular job but have been successively a house painter, cook, newspaper seller, farm worker, navvy undertaker’s mute, valet, cafe proprietor and tramp. Lived for some years with gipsies and am now engaged on writing a book about them. Have also traveled widely in the East. I now live alone on a farm in Haute Provence.” [1]

On returning he lived for 3 or 4 years as a clochard amongst the many homeless people in the underground world of Paris.[2] This experience inspired his classic study of the underworld of Paris Paris insolite/Unknown Paris (1952), which he dedicated to his companions Robert Giraud and photographer Robert Doisneau. The book was championed by the remaining Surrealists and the emerging Situationists, based their theory of the dérive on Clébert’s principles, using this book as a literal guide to the underside of the city. An illustrated edition with photos of Patrice Molinard (who debuted as a stills photographer on Georges Franju's documentary le Sang des bêtes) and layout by Massin published in 1954. On the occasion of the books reissue by Attila in 2009 he said:

"it was not a story in a journalistic sense, it was a personal investigation, it was me in the streets of Paris."[3]

The book inspired and informed many interlectuals view of the city such as the writer Henry Miller [4] He spent some time in the capital where he attended the last Surrealist meeting and some of the first gatherings of the Situationists, who enjoyed exploring the cafes of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. For two years, he was a reporter in Asia for Paris Match and France Soir, before retiring in 1956 to Provence.

He second most influential book was Les Tziganes a pioneering sociological study of Gypsies, one of the finest studies of the subject at the time based on both archival research and personal experience (although it was also been criticism in recent years[5]). The book was translated into English by Charles Duff in 1969.

He published various novels including The Blockhouse (1953, published in English in 1958), La Vie sauvage (1953) dedicated to Blaise Cendrars, who along with Henry Miller were Clébert's only masters[6]. L'Ermite in 1984, L'Alchimiste du Roi-Soleil in 1994 and L'Esprit des hauts lieux, in 2000. In 1973 The Blockhouse, was made into a film directed by Clive Rees and starred Peter Sellers and Charles Aznavour.

In 1996 he published Dictionnaire du Surréalisme. In his later years he became interested in the history of the South of France and Provence where he resided until his death in Oppède in 2011. He published various works on the culture and history of the region, such as Rêver de Provence - Côte d'Azur (1967), Guide de la Provence mystérieuse (1992) and a three volumes of the series Provence antique (vol. 1 in 19666, vol. 2 in 1970 and vol. 3 in 1992). He was awarded the Prix littéraire de Provence in 1988.

Bibliography

  • 1952 : Paris insolite, pub. Denoël, co-authored with Patrice Molinard (photographs), Reissued by Attila in 2009 . ISBN isbn=9782917084113. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Missing or empty |title= (help); Missing pipe in: |isbn= (help)
  • 1953: La Vie sauvage ASIN B0018G5FOG
  • 1955: Le Blockhaus ASIN B0018GCKJE
  • 1956: Paris que j'aime , Pub. Sun ASIN B0000DSD7B
  • 1958: Provence insolite, co-author: Georges Glasberg, Pub. Éditions Grasset ASIN B0014XQ6BO
  • 1962: Les Tziganes, Editor: Arthaud, illustrated by 64 photographs, 18 drawings and 2 maps ASIN B0000DLMFA
  • 1966: Provence antique, 1 : des origines a la conquête romaine, Pub. Laffont ASIN B0010V5VD4
  • 1967: Rêver de Provence - Côte d'Azur, Pub. Vilo ASIN B0000DLUBH
  • 1968: Histoire et guide de la France secrète, co-author Aimé Michel, Encyclopédieplanéte ASIN B0000DSMJN
  • 1970 : Provence antique, 2 : l'époque gallo-romaine, Pub. Laffont ASIN B0000DOWVG
  • 1981 : Fort Chabrol (1899), Pub. Denoël . ISBN 978-2207226957. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1984 : Mémoire du Luberon, Pub. Herscher . ISBN 978-2733500767. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1986 : La Provence de Pagnol, Pub. Edisud . ISBN 978-2857443766. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1986 : L'Ermite, Pub. Albin Michel . ISBN 978-2226021380. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1988 : Les Daudet, une famille bien française, 1840 1940, Pub. Presses de la Renaissance . ISBN 978-2856164549. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1992 : Guide de la Provence mystérieuse, Pub. Sand et Tchou . ISBN 978-2710703594. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1992 : Guide de la France thermale, Pub. Horay . ISBN 978-2705800246. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1992 : Provence antique, 3 : Aux temps des premiers chrétiens . ISBN 978-2-221-06761-1. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1993 : Provence, Pub. Éditions de La Martinière . ISBN 978-2732420332. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1994 : L'Alchimiste du Roi-Soleil, Pub. Albin Michel . ISBN 978-2226069160. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1995 : La Durance, Pub. Privat|année=|collection=Rivières et vallées de France . ISBN 978-2708995031. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1996 : Dictionnaire du Surréalisme, Pub. Seuil . ISBN 2020245884. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1996 : De Provence, Pub. Nathan . ISBN 978-2092846766. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1996 : Histoire de la fin du monde, de l'an mil a l'an 2000, Pub. Belfond . ISBN 978-2714431370. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1998 : Vivre en Provence, Pub. Éditions de l'Aube . ISBN 978-2876781313. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1998 : Femmes d'artistes, Pub. Presses de la Renaissance . ISBN 978-2856164990. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 1999 : La Littérature à Paris: L'histoire, les lieux, la vie littéraire, Pub. Larousse . ISBN 978-2035080042. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2000 : L'Esprit des hauts lieux|genre=roman, Pub. Albin Michel . ISBN 978-2226027009. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2001 : Les Fêtes provençales, co-author Josiane Aoun and Béatrice Tollu, Aubanel : collection Nature Cote Sud . ISBN 978-2700602463. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2003 : Prophéties de Nostradamus : Les Centuries, texte intégral (1555-1568), Pub. Dervy . ISBN 978-2844542601. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2004 : Histoires et légendes de la Provence mystérieuse, Pub. Sand & Tchou . ISBN 978-2710703624. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2006 : Herbier provençal, Pub. Rivages|collection=Provence . ISBN 978-2903059644. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  • 2007 : Marie Madeleine en Provence, Pub. Oxus Editions . ISBN 978-2848980966. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

Works in Translation

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