René Sudre (April 19, 1880 – 1968) was a French journalist, parapsychologist and writer.

Biography

Sudre was born in

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

. He studied philosophy and science at the

University of Poitiers The University of Poitiers (UP; , ) is a public university located in Poitiers, France. It is a member of the Coimbra Group. It is multidisciplinary and contributes to making Poitiers the city with the highest student/inhabitant ratio in France ...

and the

University of Paris-Sorbonne Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

. He worked as a commenter for

Radiodiffusion Française Radiodiffusion Française (; RDF) was a French public institution responsible for public service broadcasting. Created in 1944 as a state monopoly (replacing Radiodiffusion Nationale), RDF worked to rebuild its extensive network, destroyed duri ...

(1926–1940) and contributed articles to the newspaper ''

Journal des débats The ''Journal des débats'' (, ''Journal of Debates'') was a French newspaper, published between 1789 and 1944 that changed title several times. Created shortly after the first meeting of the Estates-General of 1789, it was, after the outbreak ...

'' (1935–1940) and '' Revue des Deux Mondes''. He was Professor at L'Ecole des hautes Etudes Sociales (1931–1940). During 1921–1926 he worked at the

Institut Métapsychique International The Institut Métapsychique International (IMI) is a French parapsychological organization that studies paranormal phenomena. It was created in 1919 by Jean Meyer, Gustav Geley Gustav Geley (13 April 1868 – 15 July 1924) was a French physician ...

(IMI). Sudre came into dispute with the spiritualist orientation of the IMI as his books were critical of the spiritualist hypothesis of mediumship. In 1926, he was dismissed from the IMI by director Eugéne Osty. Sudre was "strongly anti-spiritualistic".

Ernesto Bozzano Ernesto Bozzano (January 9, 1862 – June 24, 1943), also known as Signor Bozzano, was an Italian parapsychologist and spiritualist. Career Bozzano was born in Genoa. He did not receive formal education, he was self-taught. He was influenced b ...

attempted to refute Sudre's arguments. His book ''Introduction à la Métapsychique Humaine'' (1926) attacked the spiritualist hypothesis and defended an

animist Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

position of creative forces similar to

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

. Sudre was a loyal friend of

Harry Price Harry Price (17 January 1881 – 29 March 1948) was a British Parapsychologist, psychic researcher and author, who gained public prominence for his investigations into psychical phenomena and exposing fraudulent Spiritualism (movement), spiritu ...

. Price described him as "the leading psychist in France." He was a member of the

National Laboratory of Psychical Research The National Laboratory of Psychical Research was established in 1926 by Harry Price, at 16 Queensberry Place, London. Its aim was "to investigate in a dispassionate manner and by purely scientific means every phase of psychic or alleged psychi ...

. He was also a member of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to condu ...

and contributed articles to the ''Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research''. He wrote book reviews for the ''Revue Métapsychique'' (1921–1926). Sudre interpreted mental and physical phenomena of mediums as evidence for

clairvoyance Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to h ...

and

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

forces. Dingwall, Eric. (1960)
''The Paranormal: A French View''
''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'' 188: 177.

Reception

Professor John Cohen in the ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

'' for a review of ''Treatise on Parapsychology'' (1960) disputed Sudre's belief that clairvoyance had been established by science but praised the book for "demolishing" the spiritualist hypothesis of mediumship. Cohen noted that the book "ranks among the very best of its kind that have appeared on either side of the Atlantic".Cohen, John. (1960)
''Treatise on Parapsychology''
''

''. July 28. pp. 306–307. Retrieved August 14, 2017. Criticism of ''Treatise on Parapsychology'' came from

Eric Dingwall Eric John Dingwall (1890–1986) was a British anthropologist, psychical researcher and librarian. Biography Born in British Ceylon, Dingwall moved to England where he was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge (M.A., 1912), and the Univ ...

. In a review for ''

'' he noted that Sudre was credulous in accepting materializations and psychic photographs as genuine. Sudre failed to cite the evidence of fraud in mediumship, he was also criticized for defending phenomena at

Borley Rectory Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house wa ...

as 'incontestably genuine' and ignoring evidence to the contrary.

Publications

*''Introduction à la Métapsychique Humaine'' (1926) *''Le Huitième Art: Mission de la Radio'' (1945) *''Personnages d’au-delà'' (1946) *''Les Nouvelles Énigmes de l’univers'' (1951) *''Traité de Parapsychologie'' ranslated by Celia Green as ''Treatise on Parapsychology''">Celia_Green.html" ;"title="ranslated by Celia Green">ranslated by Celia Green as ''Treatise on Parapsychology''(1956, 1960) *''Parapsychology'' (1962)

Biography

Reception

Publications

References

Further reading