Charles Pierre Péguy (; 7 January 1873 – 5 September 1914) was a French poet, essayist, and editor. His two main philosophies were

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. By 1908 at the latest, after years of uneasy

agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...

, he had become a believing but non-practicing

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. From that time, Catholicism strongly influenced his works.

Biography

Péguy was born into poverty in

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, winning a scholarship at the

École normale supérieure (Paris) The ''École normale supérieure - PSL'' (; also known as ''ENS'', ''Normale sup, ''Ulm'' or ''ENS Paris'') is a ''grande école'' university in Paris, France. It is one of the constituent members of Paris Sciences et Lettres University (PSL). ...

, where he attended notably the lectures of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

and

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary production a ...

, whom he befriended. He formally left without graduating, in 1897, though he continued attending some lectures in 1898. Influenced by

Lucien Herr Lucien Herr (17 January 1864 – 18 May 1926) was a French intellectual, librarian at the ''École Normale Supérieure'' in Paris, and mentor to a number of well-known socialist politicians and writers, including Jean Jaurès and Charles Péguy ...

, librarian of the ''École Normale Supérieure'', he became an ardent Dreyfusard. In 1897, Péguy married Charlotte-Françoise Baudoin; they had one daughter and three sons, one of whom was born after Péguy's death. Around 1910 he fell deeply in love with

Blanche Raphael Blanche may refer to: People * Blanche (singer), stage name of Belgian singer and songwriter Ellie Delvaux *Blanche (given name) * Blanche (surname) Places Australia * Blanche Harbor (South Australia), a bay on the east coast of Eyre Peninsula * ...

, a young Jewish friend; however, he was faithful to his wife. From his earliest years, he was influenced by socialism. He joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

in 1895. From 1900 until his death in 1914, he was the main contributor to and the editor of the literary magazine ''Les Cahiers de la Quinzaine'', which at first supported the Socialist Party director

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

. However, Péguy ultimately ended this support after he began viewing Jaurès as a traitor to the nation and to socialism. In the ''Cahiers'', Péguy published not only his own essays and poetry, but also works by important contemporary authors such as

. His free-verse poem, "Portico of the Mystery of the Second Virtue", has gone through more than 60 editions in France. It was a favorite book of

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...

. When the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out, Péguy became a lieutenant in the 19th company of the French 276th Infantry Regiment. He died in battle, shot in the forehead, near Villeroy,

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne (river), Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square ...

on the day before the beginning of the Battle of the Marne. There is a memorial to Péguy near the field where he was killed. Monument Charles Peguy

Influence

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

both supporters and opponents of

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

cited Péguy.

Edmond Michelet Edmond Michelet (8 October 1899 – 9 October 1970) was a French politician. He is the father of the writer Claude Michelet. On 17 June 1940, he distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes. It is consid ...

was the first of many members of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

to quote Péguy; de Gaulle, familiar with Péguy's writing, quoted him a 1942 speech. Those who opposed Vichy's anti-Semitism laws often cited him. By contrast,

Robert Brasillach Robert Brasillach (; 31 March 1909 – 6 February 1945) was a French author and journalist. Brasillach was the editor of ''Je suis partout'', a nationalist newspaper which advocated fascist movements and supported Jacques Doriot. After the liberat ...

praised Péguy as a "French National Socialist", and Péguy's sons Pierre and Marcel wrote that their father was an inspiration for Vichy's National Revolution ideology and "above all, a racist". It has been written that Péguy would likely have been horrified by his future influence on fascism. The English novelist

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

alluded to Péguy in '' Brighton Rock'', while ''

The Heart of the Matter ''The Heart of the Matter'' (1948) is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Greene, a former British intelligence officer in Freetown, British Sierra Leone, drew on his expe ...

'' has as its epigraph a quotation from Péguy. In ''The Lawless Roads'' Greene refers to Péguy "challenging God in the cause of the damned". The Swiss theologian

Hans Urs von Balthasar Hans Urs von Balthasar (12 August 1905 – 26 June 1988) was a Swiss theologian and Catholic priest who is considered an important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. He was announced as his choice to become a cardinal by Pope John Paul II, b ...

, in the course of describing the history of art as an ongoing, sometimes more and sometimes less successful approximation of God's creativeness, noted that Péguy's Eve was a "theological redemption of the project of Proust", meaning that where Proust was gifted with memory and charity, the Eve of Péguy – not necessarily Péguy himself – was gifted with memory, charity, and direct knowledge of the redemption of God. English poet

Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be ...

published a book-length poem in 1983 in homage to Péguy, entitled ''The Mystery of the Charity of Charles Péguy''.

Famous quotations

"The world has changed more in the last 30 years ince 1909than in all the time since Jesus Christ." "The sinner is at the very heart of Christianity. Nobody is so competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. Nobody, except the saint." This is the epigraph to

's novel ''

'' (1948). "It will never be known what acts of cowardice have been committed for fear of not looking sufficiently progressive." (''Notre Patrie'', 1905) "

Tyranny A tyrant (), in the modern English usage of the word, is an absolute ruler who is unrestrained by law, or one who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. Often portrayed as cruel, tyrants may defend their positions by resorting to rep ...

is always better organised than

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

". "

Kantian ethics Kantian ethics refers to a Deontology, deontological ethical theory developed by Germans, German philosopher Immanuel Kant that is based on the notion that: "It is impossible to think of anything at all in the world, or indeed even beyond it, t ...

has clean hands but, in a manner of speaking, actually no hands." "How maddening, says God, it will be when there are no longer any Frenchmen." "There will be things that I do that no one will be left to understand." (''Le Mystère des saints Innocents'') "It is impossible to write ancient history because we do not have enough sources, and impossible to write modern history because we have too many". (''Clio'', 1909) "Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics." (''Notre Jeunesse'', 1909)

Works

Essays * (1901). ''De la Raison''. * (1902). ''De Jean Coste''. * (1905). ''Notre Patrie''. * (1907–08). ''Situations''. * (1910). ''Notre Jeunesse''. * (1910). ''Victor-Marie, Comte Hugo''. * (1911). ''Un Nouveau Théologien''. * (1913). ''L'Argent''. * (1913). ''L'Argent Suite''. * (1914). ''Note sur M. Bergson et la Philosophie Bergsonienne''. * (1914). ''Note Conjointe sur M. Descartes et la Philosophie Cartésienne'' (posth.) * (1931). ''Clio. Dialogue de l'Histoire et de l'âme Païenne'' (posth.) * (1972). ''Véronique. Dialogue de l'Histoire et de l'âme Charnelle''. Paris: Gallimard (posth.) Poetry * (1912). ''Le Porche du Mystère de la Deuxième Vertu''. * (1913). ''La Tapisserie de Sainte Geneviève et de Jeanne d'Arc''. * (1913). ''La Tapisserie de Notre-Dame''. * (1913). ''Ève''. Plays * (1897). ''Jeanne d'Arc''. Paris: Librairie de la Revue Socialiste. * (1910). ''Le Mystère de la Charité de Jeanne d'Arc''. * (1912). ''Le Mystère des Saints Innocents''. Miscellany * (1927). ''Lettres et Entretiens'' (posth.) * (1980). '', 1905–1914: Charles Péguy – Pierre Marcel''. Paris: Minard (posth.) Collected Works * (1916–55). ''Œuvres Complètes de Charles-Péguy''. Paris: Gallimard (20 vols.) * (1941). ''Œuvres Poétiques Complètes''. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade: Gallimard. * (1987–92). ''Œuvres en Prose Complètes:'' ** Tome I. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade: Gallimard, 1987. ** Tome II. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade: Gallimard, 1988. ** Tome III. Bibliothèque de la Pléiade: Gallimard, 1992.

Works in English translation

* (1943). "Freedom," ''Commonweal'', 8 January, p. 293. * (1943). ''Basic Verities. Prose and Poetry'', Trans. by

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...

and

Julien Green Julien Green (September 6, 1900 – August 13, 1998) was an American writer who authored several novels (''The Dark Journey'', ''The Closed Garden'', ''Moira'', ''Each Man in His Darkness'', the ''Dixie'' trilogy, etc.), a four-volume autobiog ...

. New York: Pantheon Books Inc. * (1944). ''Man and Saints. Prose and Poetry'', Trans. by

and

. New York: Pantheon Books Inc. * (1950). ''The Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc'', Trans. by

. New York: Pantheon Books Inc. ondon: Hollis & Carter, 1950; Carcanet, 1986 * (1956). ''The Mystery of the Holy Innocents'', Trans. by

Pansy Pakenham Lady Margaret Pansy Felicia Lamb, known as Lady Pansy Lamb (18 May 1904 – 19 February 1999) was an English writer under her maiden name of Pansy Pakenham. A novelist, biographer, and translator of French poetry, she was the wife of the Austral ...

. London: The Harvill Press ew York: Harper, 1956 ** (1999). "The Mystery of the Holy Innocents," ''Communio'' 26 (2). * (1958). ''Temporal and Eternal'', Tran. by Alexander Dru. London: The Harvill Press ew York: Harper, 1958; Liberty Fund, 2001 * (1964). ''A Vision of Prayer''. Mount Saint Bernard Abbey: Saint Bernard Press. * (1965). ''God Speaks''. New York: Pantheon Books Inc. * (1970). ''The Portico of the Mystery of the Second Virtue'', Trans. by Dorothy Brown Aspinwall. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ** (1994). "On the Mystery of Hope," ''Communio'' 21 (3). ** (1996). ''The Portal of the Mystery of Hope'', Trans. by David Louis Schindler Jr. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark m. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003; Continuum, 2005 * (2009). "On Money," ''Communio'' 36 (3).

Notes

References

*Adereth, Maxwell (1967). ''Commitment in Modern French Literature: A Brief Study of 'Littérature Engagée' in the Works of Péguy, Aragon, and Sartre''. London: Victor Gollancz. *Halévy, Daniel (1918)
''Charles Péguy et les Cahiers de la Quinzaine''
Paris: Payot et Cie. *Jussem-Wilson, Nelly (1965). ''Charles Péguy''. London: Barnes and Barnes. *Jorge Molinas Lara (2014). ''Crisis and commitment: Political ethics on Charles Péguy''. The University of Valencia. *Moran, Sean Farrell (1989). "Patrick Pearse and the European Revolt Against Reason", ''The Journal of the History of Ideas'',50, 4, 423–66 *Mounier, Emmanuel (1931). ''La Pensée de Charles Péguy''. Paris: Plon. *O'Donnell, Donat (1951). "The Temple of Memory: Péguy," ''The Hudson Review'', Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 548–574. * Rolland, Romain (1944). ''Péguy''. Paris: A. Michel. *Schmitt, Hans A. (1967). ''Charles Péguy: The Decline of an Idealist''. Louisiana State University Press. *Secrétain, Roger (1941). ''Péguy, Soldat de la Liberté''. Montréal: Valiquette. *Servais, Yvonne (1950). "Charles Peguy and the Sorbonne: 1873–1914," ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'', Vol. 39, No. 154, pp. 159–170. *Servais, Yvonne (1953). ''Charles Péguy: The Pursuit of Salvation''. Cork University Press. *Turquet-Milnes, G. (1921)
"Charles Péguy,"
in ''Some Modern French Writers. A Study in Bergsonism''. New York: Robert M. McBride & Company, pp. 212–241. *Villiers, Marjorie (1965). ''Charles Péguy: A Study in Integrity''. Londres: Collins.

External links

* * * *
Charles Péguy
biography b
James Horrox
at

The Literary Encyclopedia ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' is an online reference work first published in October 2000. It was founded as an innovative project designed to bring the benefits of information technology to what at the time was still a largely conservative li ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peguy, Charles 1873 births 1914 deaths Writers from Orléans French Roman Catholics French socialists Catholic socialists Chartres Christian humanists Christian poets Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism École Normale Supérieure alumni French Christian socialists 20th-century French journalists French male poets French philosophers 20th-century French poets French male essayists Catholic philosophers Roman Catholic writers Lycée Lakanal alumni French World War I poets French military personnel killed in World War I French Roman Catholic writers French Army officers