Hubert Nyssen (born 11 April 1925 – 12 November 2011) was a Belgian-French writer, publisher and founder of the Éditions

Actes Sud Actes Sud is a French publishing house based in Arles. It was founded in 1978 by author Hubert Nyssen. By 2013, the company, then headed by Nyssen's daughter, Françoise Nyssen, had an annual turnover of 60 million euros and 60 staff members. ...

Biography

Hubert Nyssen grew up in Boitsfort (today a commune in Brussels) and settled in Provence in 1968. He became a naturalised French citizen in 1976. A novelist, diarist, essayist and poet, he was the author of numerous books. During his childhood in Brussels, under the German occupation, he was influenced by his grandfather who gave him a taste for intellectual culture. After his university studies at the

Free University of Brussels University of Brussels may refer to several institutions in Brussels, Belgium: Current institutions * Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking university established as a separate entity in 1970 *Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), a D ...

, he founded an advertising company which became one of the most prosperous in Belgium. At the same time, he ran his own cultural center in Brussels, spoke on the radio and published his first literary works. In 1978, breaking up with his past as a French businessman, he founded in

Arles Arles (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Arle ; Classical la, Arelate) is a coastal city and commune in the South of France, a subprefecture in the Bouches-du-Rhône department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the former province of ...

the éditions

with the help of his wife Christine Le Bœuf, a descendant of a rich family of Belgian businessmen, Henry Le Bœuf and

Albert Thys Albert Thys (28 November 1849 – 10 February 1915) was a Belgian businessman who was active in the Congo Free State. He gave his name of Thysville to the station of Sona Qongo, currently Mbanza-Ngungu in Bas-Congo. Born in Dalhem, Thys gra ...

. In this new life, his dispositions for business and his literary talents were soon to bear fruit, whereas at the time, setting up a publishing house in the south of France constituted an unprecedented audacity, all large French publishing houses being Parisian. It was a challenge and a real "cultural exception". Among his many editorial successes, he made known the American author

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

in French translation and published in French the Swedish thriller trilogy ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

''. But he was also a talented author and published more than forty works in the fields of novel, theater, poetry and essays. Doctor of Arts, he taught at the

University of Provence The University of Provence Aix-Marseille I (french: Université de Provence) was a public research university mostly located in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. It was one of the three Universities of Aix-Marseille and was part of the Academy of ...

and

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

. The University of Liège, which hosts its archives, the Nyssen Fund, appointed him

Doctor honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

in 2003. In 2011, he was made Chevalier of the Order of the . On his death, the Argentinian writer

Alberto Manguel Alberto Manguel (born March 13, 1948, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine-Canadian anthologist, translator, essayist, novelist, editor, and a former Director of the National Library of Argentina. He is the author of numerous non-fiction books such ...

paid tribute to him:

Works

Work and short stories

*1973: ''Le Nom de l'arbre'',

Éditions Grasset The Grasset Editions () is a French publishing house founded in 1907 by (1881–1955). History Founder In 1913, Bernard Grasset publishes the first volume of ''À la recherche du temps perdu'', by Marcel Proust, '' Du côté de chez Swann'', ...

, Passé-Présent n° 53,

Babel Babel is a name used in the Hebrew Bible for the city of Babylon and may refer to: Arts and media Written works Books *Babel (book), ''Babel'' (book), by Patti Smith * Babel (2012 manga), ''Babel'' (2012 manga), by Narumi Shigematsu * Babel (20 ...

n° 435. *1979: ''La Mer traversée'', Grasset, Prix Méridien. *1982: ''Des arbres dans la tête'', Grasset, Grand Prix du roman de la

Société des gens de lettres Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

. *1983: ''Éléonore à Dresde'', Actes Sud, Prix Valery-Larbaud, Prix Franz-Hellens. Babel n° 14. *1995: ''Les Rois borgnes'', Grasset,

Prix de l'Académie française Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell (American ...

. n° 2770. *1989: ''Les Ruines de Rome'', Grasset, Babel n° 134. *1991: ''Les Belles Infidèles'', Actes Sud (Polar Sud) *1992: ''La Femme du botaniste'', Actes Sud, Babel n° 317. *1995: ''L'Italienne au rucher'',

Éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by Ga ...

. Babel n° 664 under the title ''La leçon d'apiculture'', 2004 *1998: ''Le Bonheur de l'imposture'', Actes Sud *2000: ''Quand tu seras à Proust la guerre sera finie'', Actes Sud *2002: ''Zeg ou les Infortunes de la fiction'', Actes Sud *2004: ''Pavanes et Javas sur la tombe d'un professeur'', Actes Sud *2008: ''Les Déchirements'', Actes Sud *2009: ''L'Helpe mineure'', Actes Sud *2012: ''Dits et Inédits'', Actes Sud

Essays

*1969: ''Les Voies de l'écriture'', Mercure de France, 1969. *1972: ''L'Algérie'', Arthaud, 1972. *1981: ''Lecture d'Albert Cohen'', Actes Sud * ''L'Éditeur et son double'', Actes sud, Vol. I : 1988 ; vol II : 1990 ; vol. III : 1996. *1993: ''Du texte au livre'', les avatars du sens, Nathan *1997: ''Éloge de la lecture'', Les Grandes Conférences, Fides *2002: ''Un Alechinsky peut en cacher un autre'', Actes Sud *2002: ''Variations sur les variations'', Actes Sud *2002: ''Sur les quatre claviers de mon petit orgue : lire, écrire, découvrir, éditer'', Leméac / Actes Sud *2004: ''Lira bien qui lira le dernier : lettre libertine sur la lecture'', Labor / Espace de libertés. Babel n°705. *2006: ''La Sagesse de l'éditeur'', L'Œil neuf éditions *2006: ''Neuf causeries promenades'', Leméac / Actes Sud *2007: ''Le mistral est dans l'escalier, journal de l'année 2006'', Leméac / Actes Sud *2008: ''L'Année des déchirements, journal de l'année 2007'', Leméac / Actes Sud *2009: ''Ce que me disent les choses, journal de l'année 2008'', Leméac / Actes Sud *2010: ''À l'ombre de mes propos, journal de l'année 2009'', Actes Sud

Poems

*1967: ''Préhistoire des estuaires'', André de Rache *1973: ''La Mémoire sous les mots'', Grasset *1977: ''Stèles pour soixante-treize petites mères'', Saint-Germain-des-Près *1982: ''De l'altérité des cimes en temps de crise'', l'Aire *1991: ''Anthologie personnelle'', Actes Sud * ''Eros in trutina'', Leméac / Actes Sud

Opera and theatre

*2000: ''Mille ans sont comme un jour dans le ciel'', Actes Sud *2006: ''Le Monologue de la concubine'', Actes Sud *2008: ''L'Enterrement de Mozart'' + CD, Actes Sud / Musicatreize

Youth

*1996: ''L'Étrange Guerre des fourmis'', Actes Sud Junior *1996: ''Le Boa cantor'', Actes Sud Junior, 1996. Version + CD, 2003. *1999: ''Un point c'est tout'', Actes Sud Junior * ''L'Histoire du papillon qui faillit bien être épinglé'' + CD, Actes Sud Junior, 2002

Studies on the work and the editorial activity

*2006: Pascal Durand (dir.), ''L'Écrivain et son double : Hubert Nyssen'', Liège/Arles, CELIC, Actes Sud *2012: Jacques De Decker, ''Le Dossier Hubert Nyssen'', Brussels, Le Cri/Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises *2013: Benoît Denis and Pascal Durand, « Postface, Éléments biographiques et Repères bibliographiques », in Hubert Nyssen, ''Le Nom de l'arbre'', Brussels, Communauté française de Belgique, coll. Espace Nord, n° 316

Distinctions and tributes

* Member of the

Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique The Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique - Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium - or ARLLFB is a Belgian institution which brings together personalities who, through their works, writings, l ...

(elected 14 November 1998, at seat 33.Notice Hubert Nyssen
on the website of the

) * Docteur ''honoris causa'' of the

(2003) *

Officier de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(2005) * Chevalier de l'ordre du Mérite wallon (2011)

References

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'' (14 November 2011)
''Françoise Nyssen, éditrice bienveillante''
on ''

La Croix La Croix primarily refers to: * ''La Croix'' (newspaper), a French Catholic newspaper * La Croix Sparkling Water, a beverage distributed by the National Beverage Corporation La Croix or Lacroix may also refer to: Places * Lacroix-Barrez, a muni ...

'' (10 October 2014)
Hubert Nyssen
on Babelio
'' L'éditeur Hubert Nyssen est mort''
on ''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France's ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Nyssen, Hubert 20th-century French poets Belgian writers in French 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists Prix Valery Larbaud winners 20th-century Belgian poets French publishers (people) Academic staff of the University of Provence Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Members of the Académie royale de langue et de littérature françaises de Belgique Officiers of the Légion d'honneur 1925 births Writers from Brussels 2011 deaths