Jehan Rictus (21 September 1867 – 6 November 1933) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. He was born Gabriel Randon in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

. In the 1900s, he legally changed his name to his mother's name Randon de Saint-Amand. After an unhappy childhood and poor beginnings in the life, Gabriel Randon took the pseudonym of Jehan Rictus. He found success in 1895 with poems that he interpreted in

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 ...

ian cabarets. These poems that Rictus interpreted, called ''Soliloques du Pauvre'' (Soliloquies of the Poor), were published in 1897. A few other volumes of verse followed, with ''Le Coeur populaire'' being published in 1914. At the time of

World War I 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 ...

, he stopped publishing. He also forsook his anarchism for nationalist opinions. He is also the author of an autobiographical novel, ''Fil de fer'', and of a vast

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digital. A personal ...

. The first five booklets were published in 2005.

Works

*''Les Soliloques du Pauvre'' (1897) *''Doléances'' (1900) *''Les Cantilènes du malheur'' (1902) *''Les Soliloques du Pauvre'' (1903) *''Fil de Fer'' (1906) *''Le Coeur populaire'' (1914)

External links

Works and documents (in French)
* French poets Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux 1867 births 1933 deaths French male poets {{France-poet-stub