Jean-Edern Hallier (1 March 193612 January 1997) was a French writer, critic and editor. After his exclusion from the literary review '' Tel Quel'', which he co-founded with

Philippe Sollers Philippe Sollers (; born Philippe Joyaux; 28 November 1936 – 5 May 2023) was a French writer and critic. In 1960 he founded the '' avant garde'' literary journal '' Tel Quel'' (along with writer and art critic Marcelin Pleynet), which was pu ...

, Hallier went on to publish novels and satirical pamphlets, and created the controversial newspaper ''L'Idiot International.''

Overview

The son of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

French General André Hallier, Jean Hallier was born in 1936. While the Hallier family has ancient

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

roots on his father's side, he later claimed in his novel ''L'évangile du fou'' (1986) that his mother had Alsatian and Jewish heritage. He was baptised in the village of Edern, whose name he later added to his first name Jean. Hallier, returning to France after World War II, first studied at the Pierre-qui-vire convent and then at a Paris lycée and at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He travelled extensively, even getting shipwrecked in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

, and in 1960 founded the literary review '' Tel Quel'' along with

and Jean-René Hughenin. Three years later he published his first novel, ''Les Aventures d'une jeune fille'' ("The Adventures of a Young Girl"). He then worked as an editor for publishing house Plon and completed a second novel, ''Le Grand écrivain'' ("The Great Author"), in 1967. Deeply stirred by the 1968 student riots in Paris, Hallier disclosed left-wing political views in the partly autobiographical ''La Cause des peuples'' (1972). He engaged into politics full-time and started the first, leftist version of his paper, '' L'Idiot international'', partly funded at first by

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

and

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

. Hallier traveled to Chile after Pinochet's 1973 coup, carrying funds gathered by Régis Debray. Hallier was supposed to hand the money out to the Chilean resistance. However, he returned to Paris without the money and without having delivered it to the resistance, claiming he had bought 400,000 hectares in the

Amazon Basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

to provide shelter for the future Chilean exiles.Frédéric Biamonti, ''Jean-Edern, le fou Hallier'' (a pun on ''fou à lier'', raving mad),

France 5 France 5 () is a French free-to-air public television channel, part of the France Télévisions group. Principally featuring nonfiction and educational programming, the channel's motto is ''la chaîne de la connaissance et du savoir'' (the knowl ...

, 2005. 52 minutes.
See here for France 5's presentation
includes various images from the INA He progressively broke up with the left-wing after this event. He also broke with the literary style of the

nouveau roman The Nouveau Roman (, "new novel") is a type of French novel in the 1950s and 60s that diverged from traditional literary genres. Émile Henriot coined the term in an article in the popular French newspaper ''Le Monde'' on May 22, 1957 to describ ...

with ''Chagrins d'amour,'' which was shortlisted for the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward of only 10 euros, but resul ...

in 1974. He hosted one of the first

pirate radio Pirate radio is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license, whether an invalid license or no license at all. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are rec ...

stations in 1977, "Radio Verte", close to the

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

movement. ''Radio Verte'' only ran for two days, but wielded a lasting influence. He was suspected of simulating his own kidnapping in 1982, and of organizing a bombing in Régis Debray's building (which caused no casualties), a suspicion recently confirmed by Régis Debray and Gilles Ménage, who worked for President

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

in the Elysée cell involved in the wiretap scandal (see below). He also committed, it was alleged, less serious "attacks", such as setting fire to Françoise Mallet-Joris's doormat. Mallet-Joris was a member of the Goncourt jury, and the fire was meant as a protest against the way literary prizes were awarded. Politically, Hallier was successively a

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

, an admirer of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

, while at the same time getting close to

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

, and supported Pinochet after his return from his expedition to Chile. For a time, he was close to

, who successfully ran for President in 1981 for the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS), but later opposed him, threatening to reveal the existence of his illegitimate daughter Mazarine Pingeot. From the moment he threatened to publish a pamphlet on Mitterrand in 1982, he was closely watched by a special cell in the Elysée Palace in an attempt to block the revelation of Mazarine's existence. Hallier's telephone conversations were continually eavesdropped on by this cell from 1982 onwards. He and any potential publisher were hounded by tax inspectors dispatched to instil the fear of "God" (Mitterrand's nickname) into them. His apartment was also burned down in an arson attack. In 1991, ''L'Idiot international'' was one of the French newspapers which opposed participation to the

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, and Jean-Edern Hallier went to Iraq to cover the events. Earlier, he had published

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

's ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel from the Indian-British writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical re ...

'' (1988), and personally delivered a copy of the book to the Iranian embassy in Paris. He was sued for

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

in articles published in ''L'Idiot international'' by Jack Lang as well as other people. He never defended himself during the trials, and never went to Appeal Court; he had to auction off his flat in order to pay damages to Bernard Tapie who had successfully charged him with defamation. Jean-Edern Hallier died from a cerebral haemorrhage after falling from his bicycle in

Deauville Deauville () is a communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados department, Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, northwestern France. Major attractions include its port, harbour, Race track, race course, marinas, con ...

in 1997.

Bibliography

Works by Jean-Edern Hallier * ''Les Aventures d'une jeune fille'', Seuil, 1963: * ''Le Grand écrivain'', Seuil, 1967; * ''La Cause des peuples'', Seuil, 1972; * ''Chagrin d'amour'', Editions Libres-Hallier, 1974; * ''Le Premier qui dort réveille l'autre'', Le Sagittaire, 1977; * ''Chaque matin qui se lève est une leçon de courage'', Editions Libres-Hallier, 1978; * ''Lettre ouverte au colin froid'' (a pamphlet against then-president Giscard d'Estaing), Albin Michel, 1978; * ''Un barbare en Asie du Sud-Est'', Editions Néo, 1980; * ''Fin de siècle'', Albin Michel, 1980; *''L'Évangile du fou'', Albin Michel, 1986. Works about Jean-Edern Hallier * ''Carré d'Art :

Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly Jules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly (2 November 1808 – 23 April 1889) was a French novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitl ...

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

, Jean-Edern Hallier'',

Jean-Pierre Thiollet Jean-Pierre Thiollet (; born 9 December 1956) is a French writer and journalist. He is also affiliated with the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, a European trade union. Career Thiollet attended a school in Châtelleraul ...

, with texts by Anne-Élisabeth Blateau and François Roboth, Anagramme Editions, 2008. * ''Hallier, l'Edernel jeune homme'',

, Neva Editions, 2016. * ''Jean-Edern Hallier, l'idiot insaisissable'', Jean-Claude Lamy, Albin Michel, 2017. * ''Hallier ou l'Edernité en marche'',

, Neva Editions, 2018. * ''Hallier Edernellement vôtre'',

, with texts by

Isabelle Coutant-Peyre Isabelle Coutant-Peyre (5 July 1953 – 12 April 2024) was a French lawyer who was engaged to Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, the international terrorist better known as "Carlos the Jackal". Life and career Coutant-Peyre represented Zacarias Moussaou ...

and François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2019. * ''Hallier, L'Homme debout'',

, with texts by François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2020. * ''Hallier, L'Edernel retour'',

, with texts by François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2021. * ''Hallier en roue libre'',

, with texts by François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2022. * ''Hallier tout feu tout flamme'',

, with text by François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2023. * ''Hallier, chagrins d'amour'',

, with text by François Roboth, Neva Editions, 2024.

Notes

References

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

;

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

;

Bibliothèque Nationale de France The (; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites, ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including bo ...

; Biblioteca Nacional de Espana {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallier, Jean-Edern 1936 births 1997 deaths French people of Breton descent People from Saint-Germain-en-Laye Road incident deaths in France 20th-century French essayists 20th-century French novelists French male essayists French male novelists 20th-century French male writers French magazine founders