René Alleau (6 August 1917 – 18 October 2013) was a French author, historian and consulting engineer. The focus of his numerous works are

symbology A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise different concepts ...

and

alchemy Alchemy (from the Arabic word , ) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first ...

, the

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

and

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. As well as his own works, he contributed articles in these fields to the ''

Encyclopædia Universalis The ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' is a French-language general encyclopedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., a privately held company. The articles of the ''Encyclopædia Universalis'' are aimed at educated adult readers, and writ ...

''.

Biography

Alleau studied in Paris, obtaining a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

Bachelor of Letters Bachelor of Letters (BLitt or LittB; Latin ' or ') is a second bachelor's degree in which students specialize in an area of study relevant to their own personal, professional, or academic development. This area of study may have been touched on in ...

, and Diploma in Graduate Studies in Philosophy. His thesis was supervised by

Gaston Bachelard Gaston Bachelard (; ; 27 June 1884 – 16 October 1962) was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter, he introduced the concepts of ''epistemological obstacle'' and ''Epist ...

. Family circumstances following

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

forced Alleau to switch to a career in engineering. Between 1948 and 1950 Alleau worked as an engineer in

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. It was home to Central Africa's largest port, now being replaced by Kribi port. It has the country ...

French Cameroon French Cameroon, also known as the French Cameroons (), was a French mandate territory in Central Africa. It now forms part of the independent country of Cameroon. Eastern part of the former German colony of Cameroon (). Its status, from ...

and

French Equatorial Africa French Equatorial Africa (, or AEF) was a federation of French colonial territories in Equatorial Africa which consisted of Gabon, French Congo, Ubangi-Shari, and Chad. It existed from 1910 to 1958 and its administration was based in Brazzav ...

. Alleau retired from engineering in 1962 at the age 45 in order to focus on his studies of traditional science and

hermetic philosophy Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretism, syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. This system e ...

. From 1970 to 1976, Alleau was the director of the ''Bibliotheca hermetica'' collection for the French publishing house ''

Éditions Denoël Éditions Denoël is a French publishing house founded in 1930. Acquired by Éditions Gallimard in 1951, it publishes collections spanning fiction, non-fiction and comic books. It published some of the most important French authors of the interwa ...

''. The aim of this project was to republish ancient works of

esotericism Esotericism may refer to: * Eastern esotericism, a broad range of religious beliefs and practices originating from the Eastern world, characterized by esoteric, secretive, or occult elements * Western esotericism, a wide range of loosely related id ...

and make them available to purchase. Alleau contributed to the ''

Planète A planet, in astronomy, is one of a class of celestial bodies that orbit stars. (A dwarf planet is a similar, but officially mutually exclusive, class of body.) * For articles on specific types of planet, see List of planets Planet or Planets m ...

'' magazine of

Louis Pauwels Louis Pauwels (; 2 August 1920 – 28 January 1997) was a French journalist and writer. Born in Paris, France, he wrote in many monthly literary French magazines as early as 1946 (including ''Esprit'' and ''Variété'') until the 1950s. He partic ...

and

Jacques Bergier Jacques Bergier (; maybe born Yakov Mikhailovich Berger (); Odessa, Paris, 23 November 1978) was a chemical engineer, member of the French resistance, spy, journalist and writer. He co-wrote the best-seller '' The Morning of the Magicians'' with ...

(authors of ''

The Morning of the Magicians ''The Morning of the Magicians: Introduction to Fantastic Realism'' () is a 1960 book by the journalists Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. As the authors disclaim in their preface, the book is intended to challenge readers' viewpoints on histori ...

''). In his later life he wrote online articles for ''Symbole'' associated with Frédérick Tristan and which focused heavily on the works of

René Guénon René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon (15 November 1886 – 7 January 1951), also known as Abdalwahid Yahia (; ), was a French intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from esoterici ...

. During the 1950s and 1960s, Alleau was a close associate of

André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...

, a prominent personality in

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

. René Alleau's article in the first issue of ''Surréalisme Même'' in 1961 was the occasion of the rapprochement between Breton and the young Frédérick Tristan, who was to remain a faithful friend until his death. Alleau was a

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, belonging to the ''

Grande Loge de France Grande Loge de France (, abbr. GLDF) is an independent Masonic obedience based in France. Its conception of Freemasonry is spiritual, traditional, and initiatory. Its ritual is centred on the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. It occupies a u ...

.'' As a member of the ''Thebah'' lodge in Paris, he was associated with the Guénonian-

Traditionalist School Traditionalism, also known as the Traditionalist School, is a school of thought within perennial philosophy. Originating in the thought of René Guénon in the 20th century, it proposes that a single primordial, metaphysical truth forms the so ...

wing of the Loge, rather than the Anglo-Saxon element.

Bibliography

* ''Aspects de l'Alchimie traditionnelle'', Paris, Éditions de Minuit, 1953, 240 p. * ''De la nature des symboles'', Paris, Flammarion, 1958, 126 p. * ''Les Sociétés secrètes, leurs origines et leur destin'', Paris, Éditions Retz, 1963, 256 p. * ''Histoire des sciences occultes'' (with Hubert Larcher and Gwen Le Scouézec), Lausanne, Éditions Rencontre, 1965, 112 p. *''Encyclopédie de la divination'', Paris, Tchou, 1964, 551 p. * ''Guide de Versailles mystérieux'', Paris, Tchou, 1966, 287 p. * ''Histoire des grandes constructions'', Levallois-Perret, Cercle du bibliophile, 1966, 112 p. * ''Guide de Fontainebleau mystérieux'', Paris, Tchou, 1967, 287 p. * ''Hitler et les sociétés secrètes, enquête sur les sources occultes du nazisme'', Paris, Cercle du nouveau livre d'histoire, 1969, 367 p. * ''Énigmes et symboles du Mont-Saint-Michel'', suivi d'une étude historique de Charles de Cossé-Brissac sur l'Ordre de Saint-Michel, Paris, Julliard, 1970, 311 p. * ''Guide de la France mystérieuse'', Paris, Presses pocket, 1975, 251 p. * ''La Science des symboles. Contribution à l'étude des principes et des méthodes de la symbolique'', Paris, Payot, 1976, 292 p.(f
Persée, Compte rendu, A. Faivre, Revue de l'histoire des religions, Année 1978 193-2 pp. 213-218
/ref> * ''

et l'actualité de la pensée traditionnelle'', (dir.) with Marina Scriabine, Actes du colloque international de Cerisy-la-Salle, 13-20 juillet 1973, Paris, Arche de Toth, 1981. * ''Alchimie'', préface de Michel Bounan, Paris, Allia, 2008, 98 p. * Various articles for ''

'': ''Alchimie'', ''Histoire des cartes à jouer'', ''Divination'', ''Démonologie'', ''Magie'', ''Occultisme'', ''Sociétés secrètes'', ''Tradition'', ''Théorie des Éléments'', etc.

References

External links

René Alleau at data.bnf.fr

Fiche René Alleau, éditions de Minuit

Articles en ligne de René Alleau
sur le site de la revue ''3e Millénaire''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alleau, Rene 20th-century French non-fiction writers 21st-century French non-fiction writers 1917 births 2013 deaths French Freemasons Traditionalist School 20th-century French male writers

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links