Paul Gustave Sidonie Guermonprez (1908–1944) was a Belgium–born Dutch photographer,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

, and a Dutch resistance fighter 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 ...

Early life and education

Paul Guermonprez was born 28 December 1908 in

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

, Belgium. His family fled during

World War I 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 ...

, eventually resettling in the Netherlands. Guermonprez attended the De Suikerschool Amsterdam, after primary school. From 1929 to 1932, he worked on a sugar plantation in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). In 1932, he attended

Bauhaus Dessau Bauhaus Dessau, also Bauhaus-Building Dessau, is a building-complex in Dessau-Roßlau. It is considered the pinnacle of pre-war modern design in Europe and originated out of the dissolution of the Weimar School and the move by local politic ...

in Germany before the schools closure, studying with photographer

Walter Peterhans Walter Peterhans (12 June 1897 – 12 April 1960) was a German photographer best known as a teacher and course leader of photography at the Bauhaus from 1929 until 1933, and at the Reimann School in Berlin under Hugo Häring. In the 1930s Peterh ...

. In 1933, Guermonprez moved back to the Netherlands because of the rise in

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. After moving to Amsterdam he worked as a

Commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

ist, founded his advertising company ''Co-op 2'', and he taught classes at the recently established New Art School, Amsterdam (Nieuwe Kunstschool, Amsterdam). In 1939, he married textile artist

Trude Guermonprez Trude Guermonprez, born Gertrud Emilie Jalowetz (1910 1976), was a German-born American textile artist, designer and educator, known for her tapestry landscapes. Her Bauhaus-influenced disciplined abstraction for hand woven textiles greatly contr ...

Career and World War II

When war broke out in 1939, he was drafted as an officer in the Dutch army. By 1940, Germany occupied the Netherlands, and Guermonprez was no longer in military service. Due to the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer, an institute enforced by the German Nazis that required creative professionals to register their activities, Guermonprez closed his company ''Co-op 2'' in 1942 in protest. For three weeks in 1941 he was arrested. From 4 May 1942 to 30 July 1943 he was held hostage in the St. Michielsgestel Concentration Camp. After his conditional release, he and his Jewish wife, Trude Jalowetz, went into hiding with the help of the Dutch resistance. They fled to Maria Helena Friedlander (nee Bruhn), a German woman, wife of

Henri Friedlaender Henri Friedlaender (1904–1996) was an Israeli typographer and book designer. He co-founded the Hadassah Printing School and served as the first director of the school. Early life He was born in Lyon, France, in 1904 to a British mother, Rose ...

. She hid them with other fugitives in the attic of her house in Wassenaar, South Holland.

Death

He was arrested in 1944 and executed on 10 June 1944 in Overveen. After the war, Guermonprez was buried in the Dutch Honorary Cemetery Bloemendaal ( Erebegraafplaats Bloemendaal). He was awarded the

Dutch Cross of Resistance The Verzetskruis 1940–1945 (English: ''Cross of Resistance 1940–1945'') is a decoration for valour in the Netherlands. Instituted on May 3, 1946, it was awarded in recognition of the individual courage shown in resistance against the ...

(Verzetskruis 1940–1945) posthumously on 9 May 1946. The

Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

has many of his photography works in their permanent collection.

References

External links

Paul Guermonprez
ARTindex Lexicon Online {{Authority control 1908 births 1944 deaths Dutch resistance members Dutch people executed by Nazi Germany Recipients of the Dutch Cross of Resistance Photographers from Amsterdam Belgian emigrants to the Netherlands Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II Royal Netherlands Army officers People from Ghent