Tristan Rémy (born Raymond Marcel Desprez) (24 January 1897,

Blérancourt Blérancourt () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Sights The Château de Blérancourt, an influential design by Salomon de Brosse houses the National Museum of French-American Friends ...

– 23 November 1977,

Mériel Mériel () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. Mériel station has rail connections to Persan, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt and Paris. Population Notable residents * Jean Gabin, actor (1904–1976). Gabin sp ...

) was a French writer and circus historian. He was a proponent of

proletarian literature Proletarian literature refers here to the literature created by left-wing writers mainly for the class-conscious proletariat. Though the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' states that because it "is essentially an intended device of revolution", it is t ...

. His father was a chef and he worked at the Porte de la Chapelle freight terminus. He met

Franz Seiwert Franz Wilhelm Seiwert (March 9, 1894 – July 3, 1933) was a German painter and sculptor in a Constructivism (art), constructivist style. He was also politically active as a communist making significant contributions, both graphic and theoreti ...

at one of the organising meetings for the

International Congress of Progressive Artists International Congress of Progressive Artists was organised by Young Rhineland (Junge Rheinland), with help from the November Group, the Darmstadt Secession and the Dresden Secession in Düsseldorf, 29-31 May 1922. The aim of creating an intern ...

which they both attended in May 1922. Rémy and signed the "Founding Proclamation of the Union of Progressive International Artists" He was associated with

Henry Poulaille Henry Poulaille (5 December 1896 – 30 March 1980) was a French writer and a pioneer of proletarian literature. Biography Early life and World War I He was the son of Henri, an anarchist carpenter from Nantes, and Hortense Roulot, a chair ...

whose ''Nouvel âge littéraire'' provided the basis for the magazine ''Nouvel Âge, Bulletin des écrivains prolétariens''. However while not being directly involved in the organisation of proletarian writers, his writing reflected his interest in

Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...

and he was close to both the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

and the Association des Écrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires (Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists). After the

Second world War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he specialised in books about the circus.Elian-J. Finbert, "Tristan Rémy. Grandeur et décadence du clown", ''Les Lettres françaises'' No. 96 22 February 1946,

Published works

* ''Porte Clignancourt'', Rieder, 1928 * ''À l'ancien tonnelier'', Valois, 1931 * ''Sainte-Marie des Flots'', Valois, 1932 * ''Faubourg Saint-Antoine'', Gallimard, 1936 * ''La Grande lutte'', Éditions sociales internationales, 1937 * ''Les Clowns', Grasset, 1945, republished with additions, Grasset, 2002 * ''L'Homme du canal'', J. Vigneau, 1947 * ''Le Cirque et ses étoiles'', Artis, 1949 * ''Le Cirque Bonaventure'', Éditions de la Paix, 1952 * ''Jean-Gaspard Deburau'', L'Arche, 1954 * ''Entrées clownesques'', L'Arche, 1962 * ''Georges Wague'', Éditions Georges Girard, 1964 * ''Le temps des cerises'' (Jean-Baptiste Clément), Éditeurs français réunis, 1968 * ''La Commune à Montmartre'', Éditions sociales, 1970

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Remy, Tristan 1897 births 1977 deaths 20th-century French writers