Jean de La Hire (pseudonym of the

Comte ''Comte'' is the French, Catalan and Occitan form of the word 'count' (Latin: ''comes''); ''comté'' is the Gallo-Romance form of the word 'county' (Latin: ''comitatus''). Comte or Comté may refer to: * A count in French, from Latin ''comes'' * A ...

Adolphe-Ferdinand Celestin d'Espie de La Hire) (28 January 1878 – 5 September 1956) was a prolific French author of numerous popular

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

romance novel A romance novel or romantic novel generally refers to a type of genre fiction novel which places its primary focus on the relationship and romantic love between two people, and usually has an "emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." Pre ...

s. Adolphe d'Espie was born on 28 January 1878 in

Banyuls-sur-Mer Banyuls-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France. It was first settled by Greeks starting in 400 BCE. Geography Location Banyuls-sur-Mer is located in the canton of La Côte Vermeille and in the ar ...

Pyrénées-Orientales Pyrénées-Orientales (; ca, Pirineus Orientals ; oc, Pirenèus Orientals ; ), also known as Northern Catalonia, is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France, adjacent to the northern Spanish frontier and the Mediterranean Sea. ...

. He was a scion of an old French noble family dating back the reign of Saint Louis, which gave the ancient city of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

Capitoul The ''capitouls'', sometimes anglicized as ''capitols'', were the chief magistrates of the commune of Toulouse, France, during the late Middle Ages and early Modern period. Their council and rule was known as the ''Capitoulate'' (french: c ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. He was a soldier during World War I. He died during 1956 at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

as a result of a congestion of the lungs due to chronic pulmonary problems from having been gassed during that war. At the age of twenty, the only son of the last Comte d'Espie chose the pseudonym "Jean de la Hire", clearly indicating the admiration he dedicated to

La Hire Étienne de Vignolles, Sieur de Montmorillon, Chatelain de Longueville (), also known as La Hire (; 1390 – 11 January 1443), was a French military commander during the Hundred Years' War. Nickname One explanation for his nickname of La ...

, legendary comrade of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

, claiming to be his descendant. As numerous young ambitious ''provinciaux'' eagerly wanting literary fame and fortune, he migrated to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with the support of his uncle, the then already famous sculptor

Aristide Maillol Aristide Joseph Bonaventure Maillol (; December 8, 1861 – September 27, 1944) was a French sculptor, painter, and printmaker.Le Normand-Romain, Antoinette . "Maillol, Aristide". ''Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online''. Oxford University P ...

. But his debuts were not very successful and, after he was not awarded the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

, he abandoned classic literature and decided to author more popular novels of the ''roman populaire'' genre. During his lifetime, he authored more than 300 novels and short-stories, some published with more than 100,000 issues, the most popular being his super-science works - and among them the ''

Nyctalope The Nyctalope, alias Léo Saint-Clair, is a pulp fiction hero created by French writer Jean de La Hire in 1911. He may be the first cyborg (an individual with both organic and mechanical body parts) in literature and is seen as a significant prec ...

'' series. Most of them - mainly in the

dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...

style:

detective novels Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as specu ...

, adventures, romances, western stories, etc. - were published as series in popular newspapers, magazines and quarterlies.

Overview

Jean de La Hire is remembered nowadays mainly for having created one of the first literary

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

es of so-called

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

: The

, Leo Saint-Clair. A common mistake lead to believe that The Nyctalope appeared first in ''L'Homme qui peut vivre dans l'eau'' (The Man Who Could Live Underwater) (1908). In fact there's no Nyctalope in this book but a previous member of the Saint-Clair family, Jean, later identified in other books as Leo's father. The real Nyctalope appeared for the first time in ''Le Mystère des XV'' (1911) and continued to be published until the mid-1950s, when its books were reprinted by La Hire's son-in-law as rewritten editions. The Nyctalope's adventures were of the science fiction style: In ''Le Mystère des XV'' (The Mystery Of The XV) (1911), Oxus tried to conquer the planet

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...

. In ''Lucifer'' (1920), the villainous Glo von Warteck tried to command the world using "Omega Rays" to enslave mankind. In ''Le Roi de la nuit'' he King Of The Night(1923), the Nyctalope flew to Rhea, an unknown satellite of Earth. La Hire was also the author of ''La Roue Fulgurante'' (The Fiery Wheel) (1908), a classic "

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

" in which five Earthmen are abducted in the eponymous "fiery wheel" (a

flying saucer A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

) and taken to

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrate ...

who look like columns of light. La Hire's other works included ''Le Corsaire sous-marin'' (The Underwater Corsair) (1912–13), a 79-issue

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of french: feuillet, the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criti ...

derivative of

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

, ''Joe Rollon, l'autre homme invisible'' (Joe Rollon, The Other Invisible Man) (1919), a variation on H.G. Wells' story and ''Les Grandes Aventures d'un boy scout'' (The Great Adventures Of A Boy-Scout) (30 issues, 1926), a serial that features the adventures of boy scout Franc-Hardi in underground realms, other planets, etc. In 1940 he published an anti-French and pro-Nazi volume, ''Le Crime des évacuations ; Les Horreurs que nous avons vues,'' in which he praised the Nazis for their helpfulness to the French war refugees.Jean de La Hire, ''Le Crime des évacuations; Les Horreurs que nous avons vues'', Paris: Editions Tallandier, 1940, pp.132-34.

References

Selected bibliography (excluding the Nyctalope)

* ''La Roue Fulgurante'' (The Fiery Wheel) (1908) (translated by

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (born 25 July 1948) is a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who has published more than 70 novels. His earlier books were published under the name Brian M. Stableford, but more recent ones have dropped ...

, , Black Coat Press, 2013) * ''Le Corsaire Sous-Marin'' (The Underwater Corsair) (79 issues, 1912–13) * ''Au-Delà des Ténèbres'' (Beyond Darkness) (1916) * ''Joe Rollon, l'Autre Homme Invisible'' (Joe Rollon, The Other Invisible Man) (written under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Edmond Cazal) (1919) * ''Le Labyrinthe Rouge'' (The Red Labyrinth) (1920) * ''Raca'' (1922) * ''La Prisonnière du Dragon Rouge'' (The Prisoner Of The Red Dragon) (1923) * ''Les Dompteurs de Forces'' (The Tamers Of Forces) (1924) * ''La Captive du Soleil d'Or'' (The Captive Of The Golden Sun) (1926) * ''Les Grandes Aventures d'un Boy Scout'' (The Great Adventures Of A Boy-Scout) (30 issues, 1926) * ''Le Zankador'' (1927) * ''Les Aventures de Paul Ardent'' (The Adventures Of Paul Ardent) (6 issues, 1927–28) * ''Les Ravageurs du Monde'' (The Ravagers Of The World) (1929) * ''L'Oeil de la Déesse'' (The Eye Of The Goddess) (1929) * ''Le Roi des Catacombes'' (The King Of The Catacombs) (1929) * ''Les Hommes Sans Yeux'' he Eyeless Men(1930) * ''Le Cercueil de Nacre'' (The Mother-Of-Pearl Coffin) (1930) * ''Kaitar'' (1930) * ''Les Amazones'' (1930) * ''Le Fils du Soleil'' (The Son Of The Sun) (1931) * ''Sous l'Oeil de Dieu'' (Under God's Eye) (1932) * ''Les Chasseurs de Mystères'' (The Hunters Of Mysteries) (1933) * ''Le Secret des Torelwoch'' (The Secret Of Torelwoch) (1934) * ''Le Maître du Monde'' (The Master Of The World) (1934) * ''Le Regard Qui Tue'' (The Killing Eyes) (1934) * ''La Mort de Sardanapale'' (1935) * ''L'Énigme de l'Oeil Sanglant'' (The Mystery Of The Bloody Eye) (1935) * ''Le Volcan Artificiel'' (The Artificial Volcano) (1936) * ''Le Mort-Vivant'' (The Living Dead) (1936) * ''L'Antre aux Cent Démons'' (The Lair Of A Hundred Demons) (1935) * ''Les Envoûtées'' (The Spellbound) (1935) * ''Le Démon de la Nuit'' (The Night Demon) (1937) * ''Le Million des Scouts'' (22 issues, 1937–38) * ''La Guerre! La Guerre!'' (War! War!) (written as Commandant Cazal) (5 issues, 1939)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:La Hire, Jean De 1878 births 1956 deaths People from Pyrénées-Orientales 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists French science fiction writers French military personnel of World War I French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers