Lucien Scheler (1902 – 23 April 1999) was a French author, poet, publisher, and bookseller who participated in the literary resistance against Nazism.

Biography

Scheler was born in Kassel, Germany in 1902. He was the grandson of

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

Auguste Scheler. From 1926 to 1928 Scheler and Armand Henneuse ran ''Les écrivains réunis'', a publishing company that edited and published the poems of

Michel Seuphor Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor (anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in ...

(a monograph on

Frans Masereel Frans Masereel (31 July 1889 – 3 January 1972) was a Flemish painter and graphic artist who worked mainly in France, known especially for his woodcuts focused on political and social issues, such as war and capitalism. He completed over ...

) and (a monograph on ). During World War II, Scheler lived on Rue de Tournon in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

, and worked as a bookseller and as an expert in ancient books. He then published ''Bibliographie de France'', which contained works produced by French Resistance writers. From October 1942 to August 1944, at the request of Monny de Boully, he sheltered

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

and Nusch Éluard, two French artists who were under investigation by the police for being part of the French Resistance. At his bookstore, Scheler forged counterfeit documents to help members of the French Resistance. Due to the resistance efforts of Paul Éluard, Scheler's bookstore became a rallying point for the messengers of the Éditions de Minuit. Lucien Scheler signed the poems he entrusted in 1943 to Paul Éluard and

Jean Lescure Jean Lescure (14 September 1912 – 17 October 2005) was a French poet. Biography Lescure was born in Asnières-sur-Seine. In 1938, he published his first plaquette of poems, "Le voyage immobile", and launched the review "Messages" (two issue ...

for ' under the pseudonyms of Jean Silence and Jean-Paul Mazurier."Helped by Jean Lescure, Paul �luardcollected the texts intended for ''L'honneur des poètes''(...). I had not written poems for a long time, and my only activity as a writer was limited to publishing articles of literary erudition in ''Humanisme et Renaissance'', a review of the seizièmistes edited by Eugénie Droz (...). However, in this creative aura, the desire to participate in a return to the common work soon became so imperative, that one day in the subway I surprised myself composing alexandrines (...). The result of this creativity translated into two texts that I submitted to Paul �luardwho, choosing for me "John Silence" as my war name, incorporated them into the collection being prepared." (Lucien Scheler, ''La Grande Espérance des poètes, 1940-1945'', Paris, Temps actuels, 1982, p.233). In 1944, the first issues of ''L'eternelle revue'' (an illegal magazine created by Paul Éluard with the help of Jean Lescure and Louis Parrot) were published in Scheler's bookshop, which first became available in June of that year. Along with being the author of several collections of poems, Scheler devoted himself to publishing the complete works of

Jules Vallès Jules Vallès (11 June 1832 – 14 February 1885) was a French journalist, author, and left-wing political activist. Early life Vallès was born in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. His father was a supervisor of studies (''pion''), later a teac ...

in fifteen volumes, as well as those of Paul Éluard in two volumes, for the

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the c ...

. In December 2000, researchers searched through Scheler's publications to discover which ones were original. The list they came up with included ''Les Amies'' by Paul Delvaux, ''Les chevaux'' (1944) by Dubuffet, ''Paul Éluard'' (1952) by

Valentine Hugo Valentine Hugo (1887–1968) was a French artist and writer. She was born Valentine Marie Augustine Gross, only daughter to Auguste Gross and Zélie Démelin, in Boulogne-sur-Mer. She is best known for her work with the Russian ballet and with th ...

, ''Landscape of Ridgefield. New Jersey'' (1913) by

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealist movements, although his ties to eac ...

, as well as two paintings by Henri Michaux.

Bibliography

Poems

*1929: ''Évasions et Métamorphoses ou Robert Macaire dévoilé'', Paris, Au vice impuni *1946: ''La Lampe tempête'', with five drawings by Raoul Ubac, Paris, Éditions de Minuit *1958: ''Sillage intangible'', with a dry point of Picasso, Paris, Le Degré 41 *1963: ''Lisières du devenir'', with six engravings on copper by Raoul Ubac, Paris, Jean Hugues *1973: ''Rémanences'', Paris, E.F.R. *1977: ''Trois dont Calendarium'', with four aquatints by Michel Richard, Les Arcs, Élisabeth Richard *1978: ''De Desiderio Patriae'', with two etchings by

Jean Cortot Jean Cortot (; 14 February 1925, in Alexandria, Egypt - 28 December 2018 in Paris, France), was a French painter, poet and illustrator. Biography A student of Othon Friesz, Corton was part of the Scale group which, from 1943 onwards was establ ...

, Paris, Blaizot *1987: ''À nul autre que toi'', with one lithograph by Jean Bazaine, Geneva, Jacques Quentin

Scholarly works

*1957–1960: ''Lavoisier et la Révolution française'', Paris,

Éditions Hermann Éditions Hermann () is a French publishing house founded in 1876, by the French professor of mathematics Arthur Hermann. It publishes books on science and the arts. ''Éléments de mathématique'' Hermann is noted for publishing several volu ...

*1960: ''Le Comité central des vingt arrondissements de Paris d'après les papiers inédits de Constant Martin et les sources imprimées'', in collaboration with Jean Dautry, Paris, Éditions sociales *1964: ''Lavoisier et le principe chimique'', Paris, Pierre Seghers

Sources

*1982: Lucien Scheler, ''La Grande Espérance des poètes, 1940-1945'', Paris, Temps actuels, 388 p. *1985: Gerhard Landes, « L'Honneur des poètes », « Europe », ''Geschichte und gedichte, Zur Lyrik der Résistance'', Focus Verlarg, Giessen, 162 p. nterview with Jean Lescure, text in French, p. 135-148 *1995: François Lachenal, ''Éditions des Trois Collines'', Genève-Paris, IMEC Éditions, Paris, 168 p. *1988: Jean Lescure, ''Poésie et Liberté, Histoire de Messages, 1939-1946'', Éditions de l’

IMEC Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC) is an international research & development organization, active in the fields of nanoelectronics and digital technologies, with headquarters in Belgium. Luc Van den hove has served as President an ...

, Paris, 472 p. . *2004: ''Archives des années noires. Artistes, écrivains et éditeurs'', documents collected and présented by Claire Paulhan and Olivier Corpet, preface by Jérôme Prieur, Institut Mémoires de l'édition contemporaine, Paris, 144 p. *2008: ''Les Lettres françaises'' and ''Les Étoiles dans la clandestinité, 1942-1944'', presented by François Eychart and Georges Aillaud, Paris, , 284 p. *2009: Robert O. Paxton, Olivier Corpet and Claire Paulhan, ''Archives de la vie littéraire sous l'Occupation, À travers le désastre'', Éditions Taillandier et les Éditions de l'IMEC, 448 p. (p. 233, 276 and 299)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scheler, Lucien 20th-century French poets French male poets French art critics French publishers (people) French Resistance members Writers from Kassel 1902 births 1999 deaths 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers