Germain Marie Bernard Nouveau (; 1851–1920) was a French poet associated with the
symbolist movement.
Biography
Early life
Germain Nouveau was born on 31 July 1851 in
Pourrières,
Var, in France. He was one of four children of Felicien Nouveau (1826–1884) and Marie Silvy (1832–1858). His mother died before he was seven years old, and he was raised by his grandfather. He spent most of his childhood at
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...
, and he moved to Paris in the fall of 1872.
Early career
In Paris in 1872 he published his first poem, "Sonnet of Summer," and he discovered the work of poets
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine ( ; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolism (movement), Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the ''fin de siècle'' ...
and the teenage prodigy
Arthur Rimbaud. At the end of 1873, he met Rimbaud in person, and together they went to England in March, 1874. He lived with Rimbaud in London at 178 Stamford Street before returning to Paris alone three months later.
Mid-career, travel, and mental illness
Nouveau travelled to Belgium and the Netherlands, and in 1875 in Brussels he received from Verlaine the manuscript of Rimbaud's ''
Illuminations''. He returned to London where he met Verlaine, who became a long-time friend. In 1878, Nouveau contributed to the French periodicals ''
Le Gaulois'' and ''
Le Figaro
() is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...
'' under the pseudonym Jean de Noves (one of many noms de plume he used), before travelling to
Beirut
Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
in 1883. When he returned home, he taught in a
lycee
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...
in Paris before being struck by a mysterious mental illness in 1891 and spending several months in a mental hospital.
Religious conversion and pilgrimage
After his mental breakdown, Nouveau voluntarily embarked upon a life of poverty, modelling himself after
Saint Benoît-Joseph Labre. He travelled to Rome and made a pilgrimage to
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
before returning to the village of his birth in 1911, where he died in 1920.
Legacy
Much of Nouveau's work was published and became known after his death. Several posthumous poems and other works are collected in the Pléiade edition (Oeuvres Complètes. Pierre-Olivier Walzer (ed.) Paris: Gallimard, 1970). He had a substantial influence on the
Surrealists, and critics such as
Louis Aragon
Louis Aragon (; 3 October 1897 – 24 December 1982) was a French poet who was one of the leading voices of the Surrealism, surrealist movement in France. He co-founded with André Breton and Philippe Soupault the surrealist review ''Littératur ...
have called him "not a minor poet but a great poet...equal to Rimbaud."
The ''
rue Germain Nouveau'' in Aix-en-Provence,
Fréjus
Fréjus (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Var (department), Var Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France.
It neighbours Saint-Raphaël, Var, Saint-Raphaël ...
,
Rousset and
Saint-Denis are named after him.
Saint-Denis Google Map
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References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nouveau, Germain
1851 births
1920 deaths
French poets
Symbolist poets
French male poets