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Joseph Delteil (20 April 1894 – 16 April 1978) was a 20th-century French writer and poet.


Biography

Joseph Delteil was born in the farm of La Pradeille, from a woodcutter-charcoal father and a "buissonnière" mother. Joseph Delteil spent the first four years of his childhood at the Borie (construction of dry stones) of Guillamau, 30 kilometers south of
Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Aud ...
, in the Val de Dagne. Of this hovel, today there remain only stumps of walls, which one can always see while hiking on the "Path in poetry" at the entrance of which one reads "Here the time goes on foot" created by Magalie Arnaud, mayor of Villar-en-Val, and her friends to honor the memory of the poet. In 1898, his father purchased a vineyard plot at Pieusse (30 kilometers further on the side of Limoux). This was, according to Delteil, his "native village", in the heart of the land of the
Blanquette de Limoux Limoux wine is produced around the city of Limoux in Languedoc in southwestern France. Limoux wine is produced under four ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) designations: Blanquette de Limoux, Blanquette méthode ancestrale, Crémant de ...
, "where the landscape grows, from the forest to the sun, from Occitan to French ". He remained there until his
Certificat d'études primaires The certificat d'études primaires (CEP) was a diploma awarded at the end of elementary primary education in France (from 11 to 13 years inclusive until 1936) and certifying that the student had acquired basic skills in writing, reading, mathem ...
(1907), then he joined the Saint-Louis school in
Limoux Limoux (; oc, Limós ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Aude department, a part of the ancient Languedoc province and the present-day Occitanie region in southern France. Its vineyards are famous for being first to produce sparkling w ...
. He was then a student at the Collège Saint-Stanislas (small seminary) in Carcassonne. The publication in 1922 of his first novel ''Sur le fleuve Amour'' attracted the attention of
Louis Aragon Louis Aragon (, , 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littérature''. He ...
and Andre Breton for whom this work "compensated for so many devils to the body." Delteil collaborated with the magazine ''Literature'' and participated in the drafting of the pamphlet ''Un cadavre'' written in response to the national funeral of
Anatole France (; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...
(October 1924). Breton quotes him in his '' Surrealist Manifesto'' as one of those who have done "an act of absolute surrealism." On May 24, 1924, at the "Soirée du Claridge" where the former Russian
Page Corps The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurispr ...
was giving a charity ball, a fashion show with costumes by
Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (13 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in Odessa (then part of Russian Empire), and formally trained in Russian Empire and Germany before moving to Fr ...
illustrated a poem by Joseph Delteil ''La Mode qui vient''. "The appearance of this group raised the applause of the social gathering". The publication in 1925 of his ''Jeanne d'Arc'', a work rewarded by the
Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...
, aroused the rejection of the Surrealists and of Breton in particular, in spite of the scandal caused by the anti-conformist vision Of the Maid of Orleans. For Breton, this work was a "vast shit". Delteil participated in the first issue of ''
La Révolution surréaliste ''La Révolution surréaliste'' (English: ''The Surrealist Revolution'') was a publication by the Surrealists in Paris. Twelve issues were published between 1924 and 1929. Shortly after releasing the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'', André Breton ...
'', but after an interview in which he declared that he never dreamed, he received a letter of rupture from Breton.Biro & Passeron, page 123 In 1931, he fell seriously ill and left literature and Parisian life for the south of France. In 1937, he settled in the Tuilerie de Massane (in Grabels) near Montpellier where he led a peasant-writer life until his death, accompanied by his wife, Caroline Dudley, who was the creator of the '. In his Occitan retreat, he maintained strong friendships with writers(
Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi- autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical re ...
,...), poets ( Frédéric Jacques Temple),...), singers (
Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics to nearly a thousand songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These include ...
,
Georges Brassens Georges Charles Brassens (; 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981) was a French singer-songwriter and poet. As an iconic figure in France, he achieved fame through his elegant songs with their harmonically complex music for voice and guitar and a ...
), painters (
Pierre Soulages Pierre Jean Louis Germain Soulages (; 24 December 1919 – 26 October 2022) was a French painter, printmaker, and sculptor. In 2014, President François Hollande of France described him as "the world's greatest living artist." His works are held ...
), actors ( Jean-Claude Drouot,...). By publishing, in 1968, ''La Deltheillerie'', he regained some of the notoriety of the years 1920, supported by personalities like Jacques Chancel, Jean-Louis Bory, , and
Jean-Marie Drot Jean-Marie Drot (2 March 1929 – 23 September 2015) was a French writer and documentary maker. Biography Drot was born in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. He was the director of the French Academy in Rome from 1985 to 1994. Drot and Giovanni Pierac ...
. He is buried, along with his wife Caroline, in the Pieusse cemetery.


Works

*1919: ''Le Cœur grec'' *1921: ''Le Cygne androgyne'' *1922: ''Sur le Fleuve Amour'' *1923: ''Choléra'' *1924: ''Les Cinq sens'' *1925: ''Jeanne d'Arc'', (novel),
Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine '' La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...
) *1925: ''Le Discours aux oiseaux par Saint François d'Assise'' *1925: ''Les Poilus'' *1926: ''Mes amours...(...spirituelles)'' *1926: ''Allo ! Paris'' *1926: ''Ode à Limoux'' *1927: ''Perpignan'' *1927: ''La Jonque de porcelaine'' *1928: ''La Fayette'' *1928: ''Le Mal de cœur'' *1928: ''De J.-J. Rousseau à Mistral'' *1929: ''Il était une fois Napoléon'' *1929: ''Les Chats de Paris'' *1930: ''La Belle Corisande'' *1930: ''La Belle Aude'' *1930: ''Don Juan'' *1931: ''La Nuit des bêtes'' *1931: ''Le Vert Galant'' *1944: ''A la Belle étoile'' *1947: ''Jésus II'' *1960:''François d'Assise'' *1961: ''Œuvres complètes'' *1964: ''La Cuisine paléolithique'' - éditions Robert Morel, Grand Prix international de littérature gastronomique 1965 *1968: ''La Deltheillerie'' *1976: ''Le sacré corps'' *1980: ''Correspondance privée Henry Miller-Joseph Delteil'', Paris, Pierre Belfond, 1980 (foreword, translation and notes by Frédéric Jacques Temple) *1990: ''Musée de marine'' *1994: ''Les Prisonniers de l'infini'' *1995: ''Le Maître ironique'' *2005: ''L'Homme coupé en morceaux''


Studies devoted to Joseph Delteil

* André de Richaud, ''Vie de saint Delteil'', Paris, La Nouvelle Société d'Édition, 1928. * Maryse Choisy, ''Delteil tout nu'', Paris, éd. Montaigne, 1930. *
Christian Chabanis Christian Chabanis (9 August 1936 – 25 April 1989) was a French writer, philosopher and journalist. Biography A journalist, essayist and novelist, he was also the author of numerous books on fundamental reflections and surveys on the place o ...
, « Joseph Delteil au cœur du monde » in ''Le Figaro Littéraire'', 30 December 1961. * Claude Schmitt, « Joseph Delteil ou l'épithète introuvable » in revue ''L'Honneur'', 1970. * Collective under the direction of Claude Schmitt, ''Delteil est au ciel !'', Alfred Eibel Éditeur, 1979. * Robert Briatte, ''Joseph Delteil'', coll. « Qui êtes-vous ? », Lyon, La Manufacture, 1988. *
Jean-Marie Drot Jean-Marie Drot (2 March 1929 – 23 September 2015) was a French writer and documentary maker. Biography Drot was born in Nancy, Meurthe-et-Moselle. He was the director of the French Academy in Rome from 1985 to 1994. Drot and Giovanni Pierac ...
, ''Joseph Delteil prophète de l'an 2000'', Imago, 1990. * Jean-Louis Malves, ''Delteil en habit de lumière'', Éditions Loubatières, 1992 * Collectif s/d de Robert Briatte, ''Les Aventures du récit chez Joseph Delteil'', Montpellier, Éd. de la Jonque/Presses du Languedoc, 1995 * Collective under the direction of Denitza Bantcheva, ''Joseph Delteil'', coll. « Les Dossiers H », L'Âge d'homme, 1998. * Denis Wetterwald, ''Joseph Delteil. Les escales d'un marin étrusque'', Christian Pirot éditeur, 1999. * , ''Joseph Delteil brille pour tout le monde'', Samuel Tastet éditeur, 2006. * Marie-Françoise Lemonnier-Delpy, ''Joseph Delteil : une œuvre épique au XXe, destinées du héros et révolution du récit'', Éditions IDECO, 2006. * « Les Riches heures de Joseph Delteil » Metz, imprimerie Jean Vodaine, 1977. Triple issue (23,24,25) of the journal ''Dire''. Typographie au plomb par Arthur Praillet. Pur chiffon de Lana. 50 copies.


References


External links


Site entirely devoted to Joseph Delteil
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delteil, Joseph 20th-century French poets French male poets Prix Femina winners Surrealist poets 1894 births People from Aude 1978 deaths 20th-century French male writers