Ivan Vladimirovitch Chtcheglov (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Ива́н Влади́мирович Щегло́в; 16 January 1933 – 21 April 1998), also known as Gilles Ivain, was a French political theorist, activist and poet, born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

to Russian parents.

Biography

Family background

Ivan was the son of Vladimir Chtcheglov, a revolutionary sentenced to two years imprisonment following the

1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. After his release, Vladimir left the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

with his wife Hélene Zavadsky. After originally staying in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

for three years, the couple moved to

in 1910, where Vladimir continued work as a taxi driver. He was active in the CGT and involved in the 1911 drivers strike.

Activities

Ivan wrote ''Formulaire pour un urbanisme nouveau'' (Formulary for a New Urbanism) in 1953, at age nineteen under the name Gilles Ivain, which was an inspiration to the

Lettrist International The Letterist International (LI) was a Paris-based collective of radical artists and cultural theorists between 1952 and 1957. It was created by Guy Debord and Gil J. Wolman rejoined by Jean-Louis Brau and Serge Berna as a schism from Isido ...

and Situationist International. The following quotation from the text was used as the inspiration for the famous Manchester nightclub, the Haçienda: "And you, forgotten, your memories ravaged by all the consternations of two hemispheres, stranded in the Red Cellars of Pali-Kao, without music and without geography, no longer setting out for the hacienda where the roots think of the child and ''where the wine is finished off with fables from an old almanac''. That’s all over. You’ll never see the hacienda. It doesn’t exist. ''The hacienda must be built''." He and his friend Henry de Béarn planned to blow up the

Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; french: links=yes, tour Eiffel ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Locally nicknamed "' ...

with some dynamite they had stolen from a nearby building site, because "its reflected light shone into their shared attic room and kept them awake at night." He was arrested at ''Les Cinq Billards'' on Rue MouffetardHUSSEY, A. (2002) The Game of War: The Life and Death of Guy Debord, London, Pimlico. p.94 in

and committed to a

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

by his wife, where he was subdued with insulin and

shock therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive the ...

, and remained for 5 years. He died in 1998.

References

External links

''Formulary for a New Urbanism''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chtcheglov, Ivan 1933 births 1998 deaths Writers from Paris Political philosophers Psychogeographers French people of Ukrainian descent 20th-century French poets French male poets 20th-century male writers French male non-fiction writers 20th-century French male writers

Biography

Family background

Activities

Further reading

References

External links