Gaston Chérau (6 November 1872 – 20 April 1937) was a French man of letters and journalist.

Biography

The son of an industrialist, Gaston Chérau died in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

during a lecture tour. A journalist and chronicler, he regularly gave the press his impressions of travel. In 1911, he traveled through

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

during the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

on behalf of '' Le Matin'' newspaper. In 1914, he was a war reporter for the newspaper ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

'' in Belgium and the North of France. A fertile novelist of the province, his pen is very influenced by the

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples of berries in the cul ...

where he had family roots, stayed a part of his childhood, and where he returned assiduously on vacation in a second home until the end of his life. He was elected a 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 1882 by the French writer and publisher Edmo ...

in 1926. He was also interested in cinema and wrote the dialogues of the film ''Les Deux mondes'' (1930) directed by Ewald Andreas Dupont.

Literary work

He is the author of about forty novels. *1901: ''Les grandes époques de M. Thébault'', Chamuel; ''Justin Clairbois'' remained in the state of manuscript *1921: ''Valentine Pacquault'' is at the same time his greatest success and his most famous work * ''Sa destinée'', novel * ''Concorde !…'' 6 février 1934 *1935: ''Le Pimpet'', illustrated tale by , Paris, Delagrave *1934: ''Le pays qui a perdu son âme'', novel, Paris, Ferenczi *1930: ''Le Flambeau des Riffault'', novel, Paris,

Calmann-Lévy Calmann-Lévy is a French publishing house founded in 1836 by Michel Lévy as Michel Lévy frères. His brother Kalmus Calmann Lévy joined in 1844. After Michel's death in 1875, the firm was renamed ''Calmann Lévy''.Stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

, 1910,

Flammarion Flammarion may refer to: * Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), French astronomer and author * Gabrielle Renaudot Flammarion (1877–1962), French astronomer, second wife of Camille Flammarion * Sylvie Flammarion (1836-1919), French feminist and paci ...

, 1920, 1921, 1927, 1930, 1948, 1967, then Ferenczi, 1931); The title character may have been inspired by Charles-Amable de La Tour d'Auvergne Lauraguais (1826–1879) archbishop of Bourges quoted at his death in a letter from Maurice Sand; The planned sequel, entitled ''L'Apprenti'' (1902?) was not published *1913: ''Le Monstre'', tales, Stock, 1913 *1906: '' Champi-Tortu'', novel, Olendorff, 1906 *1910: ''La prison de verre'', sequel to ''Champi-Tortu'', Calmann-Lévy *1913: ', novel, Calmann-Lévy *1914: ', sequel to ''L'Oiseau de proie'', Plon *1929: ''Fra Camboulive'', novel, Flammarion *1927: ''Valentine Pacquault'', novel (Paris, Mornay - Les Beaux Livres, illustrations by Edelman) *1923: ''La Despélouquéro'', tales, Plon * ''La Maison de Patrice Perrier'', novel *1926: ''Le vent du destin'', tales, Plon *1927: ''L'égarée sur la route'', novel, Ferenczi * ''L'ombre du maître'', novel * ''L'enlèvement de la princesse'', novel *1934: ''Chasses et plein air en France'', short stories, Stock *1937: ''Séverin Dunastier'', novel, Paris,

Albin Michel Albin may refer to: Places * Albin, Wyoming, US * Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota, US * Albin, Virginia, US People * Albin (given name), origin of the name and people with the first name "Albin" * Albin (surname) ;Mononyms * Albin of ...

A generous epicurean, he prefaced the ''Histoire du cognac'' by (Stock, 1935), an archeologist and writer from an old family of merchants in brandy from Jarnac, whose younger brother Jacques (1874–1953), author among others of ''Portraits d'oiseaux'' (Stock, 1938 and 1952) was the brother-in-law of the writer Jacques Boutelleau (1884–1968), called

Jacques Chardonne Jacques Chardonne (born ''Jacques Boutelleau''; 2 January 1884, in Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, Charente – 29 May 1968, in La Frette-sur-Seine) is the pseudonym of French writer Jacques Boutelleau. He was a member of the so-called Groupe de Barbezie ...

. He wrote a number of works for children such as ''Jacques Petitpont, roi de Madagascar'' (J. Ferenczi, 1928, ill. d'Avelot), ''L'enlèvement de la princesse'' (Hachette, 1934, ill. André Pécoud ) or ''Contes et nouvelles de Gascogne'' (Bibliothèque Nelson illustrée, 1938, ill. Georges Dutriac).Source:

Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as d ...

described him as a "

Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, celebrated as a master of the short story, as well as a representative of the Naturalism (literature), naturalist School of thought, sc ...

of sub-prefecture", because he had not voted for the '' Voyage au bout de la nuit'' by

Louis-Ferdinand Céline Louis Ferdinand Auguste Destouches (27 May 1894 – 1 July 1961), better known by the pen name Louis-Ferdinand Céline ( ; ), was a French novelist, polemicist, and physician. His first novel '' Journey to the End of the Night'' (1932) won the ' ...

at the 1932 edition of the

prix Goncourt The 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 of only 10 euros, but resul ...

(''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'', 13 December 1932). (

Léon Daudet Léon Daudet (; 16 November 1867 – 2 July 1942) was a French journalist, writer, an active monarchist, and a member of the Académie Goncourt. Move to the right Daudet was born in Paris. His father was the novelist Alphonse Daudet, his m ...

, ''L’Action française'', 22 April 1937).

Sources

* ''Hommage à Gaston Chérau à l'occasion du cinquantenaire de sa mort'', in "Bulletin de la Société Historique et Scientifique des Deux-Sèvres", n°1109, tome XX, 1987 * Catalog of the exhibition ''Gaston Chérau, romancier de la province française, 1872-1937'' at the municipal library of Niort, from 24 October 1987 to 15 December 1987, et à la bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Paris, from 5 February 1988 to 9 April 1988, with bibliography * Françoise Bertrand-Py, "Argenton et l'œuvre de G. Chérau", in ''Argenton et son histoire'', n° 5, 1988, Cercle d'histoire d'Argenton, Argenton-sur-Creuse * Madeleine Naud, "Sur les pas de Gaston Chérau", in ''Argenton et son histoire'', n° 9, 1992, Cercle d'histoire d'Argenton, Argenton-sur-Creuse * and Gérard Coulon, ''Argenton-sur-Creuse et ses écrivains'', 135 p., p. 37-41, Paris, Royer, 1996 . * Pierre Schill, ''Réveiller l’archive d’une guerre coloniale. Photographies et écrits de Gaston Chérau, correspondant de guerre lors du conflit italo-turc pour la Libye (1911-1912)'', Créaphis, 2018, 480p.et 230 photographies. A book about his two experiences as a war correspondent in Tripolitania and at the beginning of the First World War.

References

External links

Gaston Chérau
on Babelio
Gaston Chérau, Valentine Pacquault (1921)
on Centre Flaubert
Un romancier. Gaston Chéreau
on Paris Sorbonne
Le monstre, de Gaston Chérau
on Pariscilaculture
Gaston Chérau, "Le monstre" : un conteur de talent à redécouvrir
on Linternaute
Gaston Chérau reporter de guerre
on '' La Nouvelle République'' (3 November 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherau, Gaston 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French writers 1872 births People from Niort 1937 deaths