Jean Cayrol (; 6 June 1911 – 10 February 2005) 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 ...

, publisher, and member of the

Académie Goncourt The Société littéraire des Goncourt (Goncourt Literary Society), usually called the Académie Goncourt (Goncourt Academy), is a French literary organisation based in Paris. It was founded in 1900 by the French writer and publisher Edmond de Go ...

born 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 is perhaps best known for writing the narration in Alain Resnais's 1955 documentary film, '' Night and Fog''. He was a major contributor to the subversive, philosophical French publication ''

Tel Quel ''Tel Quel'' (translated into English as, variously: "as is," "as such," or "unchanged") was a French avant-garde literary magazine published between 1960 and 1982. History and profile ''Tel Quel'' was founded in 1960 in Paris by Philippe Soll ...

''. In 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, Cayrol joined the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, but he was subsequently betrayed, arrested, and sent to the Gusen concentration camp in 1943. He was one of the youngest French inmates at that camp, and consequently was made to do some of the hardest work along with the construction of roads and railways. When Cayrol wanted to die by refusing any further food, his life was saved by Dr. Johann Gruber, the "Saint of Gusen." Gruber gave Cayrol some "Gruber soup" in the washroom of barrack No. 20, and intervened for Cayrol to get him transferred to an easier job. Cayrol thereafter worked at the final-inspection of

Steyr-Daimler-Puch Steyr-Daimler-Puch () was a large manufacturing conglomerate based in Steyr, Austria, which was broken up in stages between 1987 and 2001. The component parts and operations continued to exist under separate ownership and new names. History T ...

at KL Gusen I (the "Georgenmuehle" command), where he was able to write literature during breaks. Between February 1944 and April 1945, Cayrol created a large volume of poetry at Gusen I. One of his poems from this era is the text for "Chant d' Espoir", which was set to music by a fellow Gusen I inmate, Remy Gillis, in 1944. ''Alerte aux ombres 1944–1945'', a collection of Cayrol's Gusen texts, was published in 1997. The figure of Lazarus appears many times in Cayrol's work. Having escaped death himself, Cayrol was fascinated and inspired by the story of Lazarus who died, who Jesus returned to life after being dead. Cayrol founded and edited for ten years (1956–66) the review ''Ecrire'', published by Éditions du Seuil, who had recruited him as an editorial adviser in 1949.Marie-Laure Basuyaux, "Jean Cayrol et la collection Ecrire: de l'écriture blanche à l'écriture verte", Fabula.
/ref> He retired to Bordeaux, where he died at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cayrol, Jean 1911 births 2005 deaths French Resistance members Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Prix Renaudot winners Writers from Bordeaux French male poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French short story writers Christian novelists