
Gaston Mardochée Brunswick, better known by his pseudonym Montéhus (9 July 1872 – December 1952), was a French singer-songwriter. He was the writer of such notable songs as "Gloire au 17ème" and "La Butte Rouge".
Biography
Montéhus was the eldest child of 22 in an impoverished working-class family of Jewish descent.
A Child of the Commune
Montéhus was born in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and 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), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...
after the
Paris Commune of 1871
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...
. According to him, his father Abraham Brunschwig had been among the rebels, but there is no source to verify this claim. Nevertheless, Montéhus was raised in a post-Commune context, which accounts for his commitment to left-wing politics. "Revolutionary jingoist" as he liked to present himself, he was close to the "wretched of the Earth" spoken of by
Eugène Pottier in ''
L'Internationale
"The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...
''.
He began to sing in public at the age of 12, in 1884, a decade before the beginning of the
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...
. He published his first song (''Au camarade du 153ème'') in 1897. It was then that he adopted his pseudonym, easier to bear than his name in the context of strong
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
. In 1907, he published ''
Gloire au 17ème'' in honour of the regiment of soldiers who refused to fire on a demonstration of wine growers in
Béziers
Béziers (; oc, Besièrs) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attra ...
.
A Committed Singer
In the second half of the 19th century, the song was central to the popular culture. Books, expensive as they were, were not accessible to the working classes. When it contained a strong political element, the song could be a powerful tool of
propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loa ...
. Montéhus was one of the singers of the red revolt, along with
Jean-Baptiste Clément (1836–1903), writer of the song ''
Le Temps des cerises
''Le Temps des cerises'' (, ''The Time of Cherries'') is a song written in France in 1866, with words by Jean-Baptiste Clément and music by Antoine Renard, extremely famous in French-speaking countries. The song was later strongly associat ...
'',
Eugène Pottier (1816–1887), writer of ''
L'Internationale
"The Internationale" (french: "L'Internationale", italic=no, ) is an international anthem used by various communist and socialist groups; currently, it serves as the official anthem of the Communist Party of China. It has been a standard of th ...
'',
Jules Jouy
Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of:
People with the name
* Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer
*Jules Abadie (1876–19 ...
(1855–1897), writer of ''V'là l'choléra qu'arrive'', ''Les Anarchistes de Chicago'',
Pierre Dupont
Pierre Dupont (23 April 1821 – 25 July 1870) was a French songwriter.
Dupont was born in Lyon as the son of a blacksmith. His mother died before he was five years old, and he was brought up in the country by his godfather, a village priest. ...
(1821–1870), ''Le chant des ouvriers'', ''Le chant du vote'',
Gaston Couté
Gaston Couté (23 September 1880 – 28 June 1911) was a French poet and singer, known for his pacifist and anarchist texts.
Biography
Couté was the son of a miller and went to the lycée Pothier in Orléans, but left before taking the bac ...
(1880–1911) ''Le gars qu'a mal tourné'', etc.
In his lively, driven songs, Montéhus opposed war, capitalist exploitation, prostitution, poverty, religious hypocrisy, but also the income tax:
:Au lieu d'imposer l'travailleur qui enrichit l'gouvernement
:Imposez plutôt les noceurs
es capitalistesqui gaspillent tant d'argent.
He also defended the cause of women in a remarkable way. ''La grève des Mères'' (The Mothers' Strike) was legally banned on 5 October and Montéhus condemned for "incitement to abortion".
On 5 March 1902, he is initiated into
Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
at ″l'Union de Belleville″ lodge in Paris. And when he considered joining the Communist Party in 1922, as the
French Communist Party
The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...
did not accept Freemasons, he preferred to remain faithful to his lodge.
A Friend of Lenin
Montéhus maintained relations with
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
; moreover, the latter made reference to this in his correspondence. In a letter to
Lev Kamenev
Lev Borisovich Kamenev. ('' né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician.
Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow U ...
, Lenin wrote: "Ah! If I could listen to Montéhus again!". At the time of his exile in France (between 1909 and 1912), Lenin gave a series of conferences in a room of either the Rive Gauche or Bobino (the places is uncertain). At Lenin's request, Montéhus sang in the first part to attract a sizable audience. The people who came to listen to the "humanitarian singer" were also invited to listen to the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
activist after the intermission. The relations between art and politics prefigured the
agitprop
Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
(art in the service of political discourse and/or ideology) put in place in the USSR beginning in the 1920s.
A Revolutionary Jingoist
During the First World War, Montéhus, like many others, underwent a radical change of political opinion. He made himself the zealous changer of the
Union Sacrée The Sacred Union (french: Union Sacrée, ) was a political truce in France in which the left-wing agreed, during World War I, not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge mad ...
and sang militarist songs. One may draw a comparison with the painting of
Picasso
Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is kn ...
, who in the same period renounced
cubism
Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
(considered "too German") for a more academic style (considered "French"). It was then that Montéhus sang ''La Guerre finale'', a grotesque
détournement
A détournement (), meaning "rerouting, hijacking" in French, is a technique developed in the 1950s by the Letterist International, and later adapted by the Situationist International (SI),'' Report on the Construction of Situations'' (1957) tha ...
of ''L'Internationale'':
:"Et maintenant tous à l'ouvrage
:Amis, on ne meurt qu'une fois !"
Similarly, in ''Lettre d'un Socialo'' (sung to the tune of ''L'air du Clairon'' by
Paul Déroulède
Paul Déroulède (2 September 1846 – 30 January 1914) was a French author and politician, one of the founders of the nationalist League of Patriots.
Early life
Déroulède was born in Paris. He was published first as a poet in the magazine '' ...
), he explained that the time had come for ''
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du ...
'', while waiting to be able to sing ''L'Internationale'' once again:
:Nous chantons La Marseillaise
:Car dans ces terribles jours
:On laisse ''L'Internationale''
:Pour la victoire finale
:On la chantera au retour.
Montéhus was the image of the working people, who left en masse for the front contrary to the fears of the state adjutant who had overestimated the workers' commitment to pacifism.
In a song impregnated with the
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
of his time, entitled ''L'Arbi'', Montéhus held xenophobic intentions:
:Moi li sait bien, toi pas voulu guerre
:Toi, li Français, c'est kif kif le bon Dieu.
Plus loin :
:Moi suis content voir Paris : J'suis content, c'est bézef bonno
:A couper cabêche aux sales Pruscots
:car eux, du tout, pas gentils
:As pas peur, as pas peur, Sidi
:Si Pruscots venir, moi coupe kiki.
During these four years of war, he did not cease to compose warlike songs (''La Dernière victime'', ''La Voix des mourants'', ''La Vision sanglante'', ''Debout les Morts !'', etc.), he would never be mobilised and thus never know the horrors of the front. On the other hand, on the stage of the Olympia, he was wounded in the head singing warlike songs. At the end of the war in 1918, for his good and loyal services, he received the
Croix de Guerre
The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...
.
Disgrace
After the war, Montéhus faced a rather long period of disgrace. He ceased to enroll in the
Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalitio ...
. He would attempt to redeem himself in 1923 by composing ''
La Butte Rouge
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' (The Red Mound), which makes reference to the Mound of Bapeaume, theatre of violent battles at the Somme during the offensive of the summer of 1916 (and not, contrary to a common error, the
Paris Commune of 1871
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defende ...
, strongly evoked in the work of de Montéhus). In this song, he takes on those responsible for the carnage:
..car les bandits qui sont cause des guerres
n'en meurent jamais, on ne tue qu'les innocents.
Support for the Popular Front
During the 1930s, he was a member of the
French Section of the Workers' International
The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was fou ...
(SFIO). At the advent of the Popular Front, at the age of 64, Montéhus was again at the forefront with ''Le décor va changer'', ''Vas-Y Léon !''",
[''Anthologie de la chanson française année 1936''] ''Le Cri des grévistes'', ''L'Espoir d'un gueux'', songs in which he supported the
Popular Front
A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault".
More generally, it is "a coalitio ...
and
Léon Blum
André Léon Blum (; 9 April 1872 – 30 March 1950) was a French socialist politician and three-time Prime Minister.
As a Jew, he was heavily influenced by the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. He was a disciple of French Socialist lea ...
.
Under the Vichy Regime
Montéhus was not sent to a concentration camp, but he was forced to wear the yellow star from 1942 until the
Liberation of France
The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance.
Nazi Germany inv ...
. In 1944, he wrote the ''Chant des Gaullistes'' (Song of the Gaullists).
After the Liberation
He received the
Legion of Honour
The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...
from
Paul Ramadier
Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman.
Biography
The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Paris ...
en 1947. All but forgotten, supported only by his family, he died in 1952 in Paris.
Citations
Gloire au 17ème – 1907
:Salut, salut à vous,
:Braves soldats du 17ème ;
:Salut, braves pioupious,
:Chacun vous admire et vous aime ;
:Salut, salut à vous,
:À votre geste magnifique ;
:Vous auriez, en tirant sur nous,
:Assassiné la République.
Lettres d'un socialo – 1914
:Certes cela est pénible
:Quand on a le cœur sensible
:De voir tomber les copains
:Mais quand on est sous les armes
:On n'doit pas verser de larmes
:On accepte le destin.
La Butte Rouge – 1919
:La Butt’ Rouge, c’est son nom, l’baptême s’fit un matin
:Où tous ceux qui montaient roulaient dans le ravin.
:Aujourd’hui y’a des vignes, il y pousse du raisin.
:Qui boira ce vin là, boira l’sang des copains.
References
Book
Rémy Wermester : "Montéhus La lutte en chantant" Editions Elzévir (November 2012) : In the same time, biography, bibliography of the writer under historic ground from "La Belle Epoque" to "Trente Glorieuses".
Bibliography
Marc Robine : « ''Montéhus, Le chansonnier humanitaire. Enregistrements originaux 1905–1936'' » EPM, Paris.
External links
Chansons de Montéhus(''La Butte rouge'', ''La jeune garde'', ''Les mains blanche'', ...)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montehus
1872 births
1952 deaths
Musicians from Paris
19th-century French Jews
French Freemasons
French Section of the Workers' International politicians
French male singers
Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France)
Recipients of the Legion of Honour