Bernard Epin (27 May 1936 – 1 April 2020) was a French writer, literary critic, and communist activist.

Biography

Born into a working-class family, Epin attended primary school in the

14th arrondissement of Paris The 14th arrondissement of Paris ( ), officially named ''arrondissement de l'Observatoire'' (; meaning "arrondissement of the Observatory", after the Paris Observatory), is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is situa ...

. He joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

in 1954 and the editorial team of ''L'École et la Nation'', a communist magazine, in 1957. After his military service in

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, Epin became editorial secretary of the magazine. He also collaborated with the weekly ''Révolution'', the monthly ''

Regards ''Regards'' (also known as ''Regards Magazine'' or ''Revue Regards'', ''trans'': "Views") is a monthly French Communist news magazine published in Paris, France. History and profile Created in 1932 as a Communist title, ''Regards'' is primarily k ...

'', and ''

L'Humanité ''L'Humanité'' (; ), is a French daily newspaper. It was previously an organ of the French Communist Party, and maintains links to the party. Its slogan is "In an ideal world, ''L'Humanité'' would not exist." History and profile Pre-World Wa ...

''. In addition to his criticism in children's literature, Epin wrote ten essays, including ''Les livres de vos enfants, parlons-en'' in 1985. This essay defended the idea of emancipation in children's reading and stressed the need for children's studies to be democratized. He served as mayor of Saint-Ouen from 1965 to 2001, and directed cultural affairs from 1971 to 1995. Epin died on 1 April 2020 at the age of 83 due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Publications

*''Découvrir la littérature d'aujourd'hui pour les jeunes'' (1976) *''Profession chanteur'' (1977) *''Chez nous à Saint-Ouen'' (1983) *''L'éducation civique, c'est quoi aujourd'hui ?'' (1985) *''Les livres de vos enfants, parlons-en'' (1985) *''La Révolution française: elle inventa nos rêves'' (1988) *''Les petits mots des petits mômes'' (1990) *''Le grand livre du jeune citoyen: avec le texte intégral de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l'homme'' (1998, 2004, 2012) *''Mon premier livre de citoyen du monde'' (2000, 2012, 2014)

References

1936 births 2020 deaths French literary critics Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in France French writers French communists Mayors of places in Île-de-France People from Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub