Marcel Martinet (
Dijon
Dijon (, , ) (dated)
* it, Digione
* la, Diviō or
* lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920.
The earlies ...
, 22 August 1887 –
Saumur, 18 February 1944) was a French pacifist socialist revolutionary militant and a
prolétarian writer.
Life
Martinet, a Communist and pacifist, opposed the
First World War
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 ...
from its outset: his antiwar poems ''Les temps maudits'' were banned in France during the war, but circulated secretly: helped by Marguerite Rosmer, he sent copies on thin paper to soldiers at the front.
[Ian Birchall, 'Introduction', Victor Serge, ''Revolution In Danger'', Haymarket Books, 2011, p. 4] ''La Maison à l'Abri'', a novel about the
First World War
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 ...
, was runner-up for the
Prix Goncourt
The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...
in 1919.
Michael Rosen
Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009.
Early life
Michael Wayne Ro ...
Europe's charnel house
(review of George Paizis, ''Marcel Martinet: poet of the revolution''), ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 2 February 2008 Martinet's poem ''La Nuit'', completed in 1919, was published in 1922 with a preface by
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
,
[Stephen Eric Bronner and Douglas Kellner, ''Passion and rebellion: the expressionist heritage'', Taylor & Francis, 1983, p. 119] whom Martinet had befriended when Trotsky was in Paris.
[ Martinet's series ''Les Cahiers du Travail'' abour Notebookspublished pamphlets by ]Victor Serge
Victor Serge (; 1890–1947), born Victor Lvovich Kibalchich (russian: Ви́ктор Льво́вич Киба́льчич), was a Russian revolutionary Marxist, novelist, poet and historian. Originally an anarchist, he joined the Bolsheviks fi ...
.[
His son was the surgeon Jean-Daniel Martinet.
]
Works
* ''Les temps maudits; poèmes, 1914-1918'', 1918
* ''La Maison à l'Abri''
* ''Culture prolétarienne'', 1935
* ''Correspondance croiseé : 1932-1944'', Bassac: Plein Chant, 1987.
References
Further reading
* George Paizis, ''Marcel Martinet: poet of the revolution'', London: Francis Boutle, 2007
External links
* Nicole Racine
Marcel Martinet (1887-1944)
Writers from Dijon
1887 births
1944 deaths
20th-century French novelists
20th-century French poets
20th-century French dramatists and playwrights
French pacifists
French socialists
Proletarian literature
French male poets
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