Victor Segalen (14 January 1878 – 21 May 1919) was a French naval doctor,

ethnographer Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...

archeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

, writer, poet, explorer, art-theorist, linguist and literary critic. He was born in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

. He studied medicine and graduated at the Navy School of medicine ('Santé Navale') in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. He traveled and lived in

Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

(1903–1905) and China (1909–1914 and 1917). He died by accident in a forest in

Huelgoat Huelgoat (; meaning "High Forest") is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Huelgoat are called in French ''Huelgoatains''. Geography Huelgoat is popular with tourists and holiday ...

, Northern

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, France ("under mysterious circumstances") and reputedly with an open copy of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' by his side.

Legacy

In 1934, the French state inscribed his name on the walls of the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

because of his sacrifice for his country during

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 gave his name to the

Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 University Bordeaux Segalen University (french: Université Bordeaux Segalen; originally called University of Victor Segalen Bordeaux II) was one of four universities in Bordeaux (together with Bordeaux 1, Michel de Montaigne Bordeaux 3 and Montesquieu B ...

of medicine, literature and

social sciences Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...

under the Academy of Bordeaux, and to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences of

where he was born, and the

French International School of Hong Kong French International School "Victor Segalen" of Hong Kong (FIS in English, french: Lycée français international Victor-Segalen; LFI; ) is a French international school in Hong Kong. It is the only accredited French school in Hong Kong (lin ...

Personal life

Victor Segalen married on June 2, 1905 in Brest Yvonne Hébert (1884-1963), with whom he had three children: Yvon (1906), Annie (1912) and Ronan (1913). Some western scholars of Chinese art, starting with Victor Segalen, use the word "chimera" generically to refer to winged leonine or mixed species quadrupeds, such as bixie, tianlu, and even qilin.

Works

* ''L'observation médicale chez les écrivains naturalistes'', thesis, Bordeaux, 1902
document électronique
. * ''Les Synesthésies et l'école symboliste'', 1902. * ''Vers les sinistrés'', 1903. * ''Gauguin dans son dernier décor'', 1904. * ''Le Double Rimbaud'', 1906. * ''Dans un monde sonore'', 1907. * ''Voix mortes : musique maori'', 1907. * ''Les Immémoriaux'' (under the pseudonym Max Anély), 1907. * '' Stèles'', 1912 ; new edition, presented by Simon Leys, Éditions de la Différence, coll. " Orphée ", Paris, 1989
Read online
* ''Peintures'', Chez

Georges Crès Georges-Célestin Crès (1875 – 13 December 1935) was a French editor and bookseller, highly active early in the 20th century. Life Georges Crès was born in 1875 in Paris, where he began his career at 13 years old as a bookstore clerk. An aut ...

et Cie, 1916. * ''Hommage à Gauguin'', 1918. * ''Dossier pour une Fondation Sinologique, ''Rougerie, 1986. * ''Essai sur l'exotisme'', Fata Morgana, 1978 ; nouvelle édition, Livre de poche, coll. biblio-essais, 1986. * ''Dans un monde sonore'', Fata Morgana, 2010 ; nouvelle édition. Posthumous publications : * ''Thibet'' (publié partiellement en 1963 puis intégralement en 1979). * ''Le Siège de l'Âme'', 1921. * ''Orphée-Roi'', 1921. * '' René Leys'', 1922. * ''Mission archéologique en Chine'' (in collaboration with

Gilbert de Voisins Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters *Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South A ...

and

Jean Lartigue Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

), 1923–1924. * ''Odes'', 1926. * ''Équipée. De Pékin aux marches tibétaines…'', 1929. * ''Voyage au pays du réel'', 1929. * ''Lettres de Chine'', 1967. *
La Grande Statuaire chinoise
', suivi de ''Les origines de la grande statuaire en Chine'' 1972. * ''A Dreuz an Arvor'', 1973. * ''Siddharta'', 1974. * ''Briques et Tuiles'', Fata Morgana, 1975. * ''Journal des îles'', 1978. * ''Le Fils du ciel : chronique des jours souverains'', 1985. * ''Essai sur soi-même'', 1986. * ''Le Fils du Ciel'', 1995. * ''Journal de voyage'', 1995. * ''Le Maître-du-Jouir'', 1995. * ''La marche du feu'', 1995. * ''Pensers païens'', 1995. * ''Hommage à Saint-Pol-Roux'', 1995. * ''Entretiens avec Debussy'', 1995. * ''Gustave Moreau, maître imagier de l'orphisme'', 1995. * ''Quelques musées par le monde'', 1995. * ''Essai sur l'exotisme'', 1995. * ''Essai sur le mystérieux'', 1995. * ''Imaginaires'', 1995. * ''Un grand fleuve'', 1995. * ''Briques et tuiles'', 1995. * ''Feuilles de route'', 1995. * ''Correspondance'', 2004 (compilation dirigée par Henry Bouillier et Annie Joly-Segalen) * ''Un grand fleuve'', préface de Jean Esponde, éd. Atelier de l'agneau, 2006. * ''Les Marquises'', extrait de ''Journal des Îles'', suivi de ''Cyclone dans les îles Tuamotu'', préface de Jean Esponde, éd. Atelier de l'agneau, 2011.La page-titre de l'édition originale de "Peintures". Archaeological missions : * ''Rapport de la Mission archéologique Victor Segalen'', 1917 * ''Le tombeau du fils du roi de Wou – Ve siècle avant notre ère'', 1922 * ''Rapport de la Mission archéologique en Lartigue, Segalen et de Voisins'', 1923–1924 * ''Chine, la grande statuaire, suivi de Les origines de la statuaire de Chine'' (publiée en 1972)

Works about Segalen

Henry Bouillier Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

: ''Victor Segalen'' (

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published f ...

, 1961) *

Gilles Manceron The Gilles are the oldest and principal participants in the Carnival of Binche in Belgium. They go out on Shrove Tuesday from 4 am until late hours and dance to traditional songs. Other cities, such as La Louvière and Nivelles, have a traditi ...

: ''Segalen'' *

Charles Forsdick Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

: ''Victor Segalen and the Aesthetics of Diversity'' (Oxford University Press, 2000) * Wang Tao and Denis Thouard, "Making New Classics: The Archaeology of Luo Zhenyu and Victor Segalen", in S. Humphreys and R. Wagner (eds), ''Modernity's Classics. Transcultural Research – Heidelberg Studies on Asia and Europe in a Global Context'' (Springer: Berlin, Heidelberg, 2013)

References

External links

* * *
Website about Victor Segalen

* *
Stèles 古今碑錄
(complete French text and online book of Chinese sources) {{DEFAULTSORT:Segalen, Victor 1878 births 1919 deaths Writers from Brest, France French poets Poets from Brittany French medical writers French travel writers French sinologists French male poets French male non-fiction writers French physicians