Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic.

Life and career

After spending his childhood in

Quimper Quimper (, ; ; or ) is a Communes of France, commune and Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in northwestern France. Administration Quimper is the ...

, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic career. He was one of the first friends

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

made in Paris. They met in the summer of 1901, and it was Jacob who helped the young artist learn French. Later, on the Boulevard Voltaire, he shared a room with Picasso, who remained a lifelong friend (and was represented as the monk in his painting '' Three Musicians'', which Picasso painted in 1921). Jacob introduced him to

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

, who in turn introduced Picasso to Georges Braque. He would become close friends with

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

, Jean Hugo, Christopher Wood and

Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...

, who painted his portrait in 1916. He also befriended and encouraged the artist Romanin, otherwise known as French politician, and future Resistance leader Jean Moulin. Moulin's famous ''nom de guerre'' Max is presumed to be selected in honor of Jacob. Jacob, who was

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, claimed to have had a vision of Christ in 1909, and converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He was hopeful that this conversion would alleviate his homosexual tendencies. Max Jacob is regarded as an important link between the symbolists and the surrealists, as can be seen in his prose poems ''Le cornet à dés'' (''The Dice Box'', 1917 – the 1948 Gallimard edition was illustrated by Jean Hugo) and in his paintings, exhibitions of which were held in New York City in 1930 and 1938. His writings include the novel ''Saint Matorel'' (1911), the free verses ''Le laboratoire central'' (1921), and ''La défense de Tartuffe'' (1919), which expounds his philosophical and religious attitudes. The famous psychoanalyst

Jacques Lacan Jacques Marie Émile Lacan (, ; ; 13 April 1901 – 9 September 1981) was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist. Described as "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Sigmund Freud, Freud", Lacan gave The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, year ...

attributed the quote "The truth is always new" to Jacob.

Death

Having moved outside Paris in May 1936, to settle in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, Max Jacob was arrested on 24 February 1944 by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, and interned at

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish by birth, Jacob's brother Gaston had been previously arrested in January 1944, and deported to the concentration camp Auschwitz along with their sister Myrthe-Lea; her husband was also deported by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

at this time. A cousin, Andrée Jacob, survived by living under an assumed name and worked in the Resistance movement Noyautage des administrations publiques. Following his incarceration at Orléans, Max was then transferred to Drancy internment camp from where he was to be transported in the next convoy to Auschwitz. However, said to be suffering from bronchial pneumonia, Max Jacob died on 5 March in the infirmary of La Cité de la Muette, a former housing block which served as the internment camp known as Drancy. First interred in Ivry after the war ended, his remains were transferred in 1949 by his artist friends Jean Cassou and René Iché (who sculpted the tomb of the poet) to the cemetery at Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire in the Loiret département.

Pseudonyms

As well as his ''nom d'état civil'', or regular name, Jacob worked under at least two pseudonyms, Léon David and Morven le Gaëlique.

In popular culture

German actor Udo Kier plays Jacob in the 2004 film ''Modigliani''. In the 2006 film '' Monsieur Max'', which deals with the life of Jacob from the First World War until his death, he was played by Jean-Claude Brialy; this was Brialy's last film. In the 2013 Spanish film , Jacob is played by Lionel Abelanski. T. R. Knight portrays Jacob in the 2018 season of the television series '' Genius'', which focuses on the life and career of Pablo Picasso.

Gallery

File:Max Jacob Le pardon de Sainte-Anne.jpg, ''Le pardon de Sainte-Anne'' File:Max Jacob Ploaré.jpg, ''Le clocher de Ploaré'' File:Max Jacob Pont-l'Abbé.jpg, ''Le marché à Pont-l'Abbé'' File:287 Calvaire Guengat.JPG, ''Le calvaire de Guengat''

References

External links

Marevna, "Homage to Friends from Montparnasse" (1962)
Top left to right: Diego Rivera, Ilya Ehrenburg, Chaïm Soutine,

, his wife

Jeanne Hébuterne Jeanne Hébuterne (; 6 April 1898 – 26 January 1920) was a French painter and art model best known as the frequent subject and Common-law marriage, common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani. She died by suicide two days after Modigliani ...

, Max Jacob, gallery owner Leopold Zborowski. Bottom left to right: Marevna, Marika (Marevna and Diego Rivera's daughter), Moise Kisling.
Association les Amis de Max Jacob
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacob, Max 1876 births 1944 deaths 19th-century French painters 20th-century French painters 20th-century French male artists Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism French Catholic poets French civilians killed in World War II 19th-century French Jews French male painters French male poets French people who died in Nazi concentration camps French Roman Catholics Jewish painters French modern painters Writers from Quimper 20th-century French male writers Gay Jews Gay painters LGBTQ Roman Catholics French gay writers French Jews who died in the Holocaust Drancy internment camp prisoners Deaths from pneumonia in France Deaths from bronchopneumonia French gay artists French LGBTQ painters 19th-century French male artists Jewish School of Paris