Pascal Pia (15 August 1903,

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. S ...

– 27 September 1979, Paris), born Pierre Durand, was a French writer, journalist, illustrator and scholar. He also used the pseudonyms Pascal Rose, Pascal Fely and others. In 1922 he published the erotic work ''Les Princesses de Cythère''. His ''La Muse en rut'', a collection of erotic poems, appeared in 1928. He also illustrated erotic works, such as the

Songs of Bilitis ''The Songs of Bilitis'' (; french: Les Chansons de Bilitis) is a collection of erotic, essentially lesbian, poetry by Pierre Louÿs published in Paris in 1894. Since Louÿs claimed that he had translated the original poetry from Ancient Greek, ...

. In 1938 he founded the leftist journal '' Alger républicain'' in

Algiers Algiers ( ; ar, الجزائر, al-Jazāʾir; ber, Dzayer, script=Latn; french: Alger, ) is the capital and largest city of Algeria. The city's population at the 2008 Census was 2,988,145Census 14 April 2008: Office National des Statistiques ...

(which was part of the French colony of Algeria at the time). The journal was forbidden in 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Pia participated in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

(in the group "Combat") and in 1944 he became chief editor of the clandestine resistance journal ''Combat'', using the pseudonym Pontault. He said "We will try to make a reasonable newspaper. And as the world is absurd, it will fail."

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...

worked as a journalist at the ''Alger républicain'' and later also at ''Combat''. Pia and Camus became friends, and Camus dedicated his 1942 essay ''

The Myth of Sisyphus ''The Myth of Sisyphus'' (french: link=no, Le mythe de Sisyphe) is a 1942 philosophical essay by Albert Camus. Influenced by philosophers such as Søren Kierkegaard, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Friedrich Nietzsche, Camus introduces his philosophy ...

'' to Pia. A collection of their correspondence was published in 2000. Pascal Pia was also a good friend of

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by P ...

. Pia was a member ("Satrape") of the Collège de 'pataphysique. He often expressed absurdist and

nihilistic Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning of life, meaning. The term was pop ...

sentiments. At the end of his life, he claimed the "right to nothingness", prohibiting others from writing about him after his death.

Selected books written or edited by Pascal Pia

* ''Les Princesses de Cythere: Chronique Libertine de l'Histoire'' (Jean Fort, 1922) * ''La Muse en rut et autres poèmes'' (1928) * ''

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited fro ...

par lui-même'' (1952) * ''

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

par lui-même'' (1954) * ''

'' (Biography translated by Patrick Gregory,

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

, 1961) * ''Les livres de l'Enfer: bibliographie critique des ouvrages érotiques dans leurs différentes éditions du XVIe siècle à nos jours'' (1978) he Books of the "Enfer:" Critical Bibliography of Erotic Works in their Different Editions from the Sixteenth Century to the Present * ''Poemes et textes retrouvés'' (1982) * ''Correspondance avec Albert Camus'' (2000)

Books and articles about Pascal Pia

* ''Pascal Pia'' by

Jean José Marchand Jean José Marchand (4 August 1920 – 8 March 2011) was a French critic of art, cinema and literature. From the late 1960s he made many documentary TV films of writers, philosophers and artists. Life Jean José Marchand was born on 14 August 192 ...

, Paris 1981 * ''Pascal Pia, ou, Le droit au néant'' by

Roger Grenier Roger Grenier (19 September 1919 – 8 November 2017) was a French writer, journalist and radio animator. He was Regent of the Collège de ’Pataphysique. Biography As a youth, Grenier lived in Pau, where Andrélie opened a shop selling gla ...

, Paris 1989 * ''Pascal Pia, ou, L'homme libre (1903–1979)'', by Michaël Guittard, dissertation Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 1999 * ''Bibliophilie: Pascal Pia, le clandestin'' by J -B Baronian, ''MAGAZINE LITTERAIRE'', no. 375, (1999)

External links

Catalogue of books edited or written by Pascal Pia

Pascal Pia
by Michaël Guittard. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pia, Pascal 1903 births 1979 deaths French Resistance members French illustrators French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French male writers