Jacques Schiffrin (28 March 1892,

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

– 17 November 1950,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an editor and French translator, famous for the creation of

Bibliothèque de la Pléiade The ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (, "Pleiades Library") is a French editorial collection which was created in 1931 by Jacques Schiffrin, an independent young editor. Schiffrin wanted to provide the public with reference editions of the ...

in 1923 which was integrated with Gallimard in 1933.

Biography

Jacques Schiffrin came from a non-practicing Jewish family in

. Having graduated in law from the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, he moved to Paris in 1922 after the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

of 1917 which made him flee to

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Editor

Passionate about literature, in 1923 he set up a publishing firm, Editions de la Pléiade /J. Schiffrin & Co., located at 6 rue Tournefort, Paris.''L'histoire de la Pléiade « Mon ami Schriffrin »'' par André Gide
sur le site de Gallimard. In November 1925, he founded with Joseph Poutermann, his brother-in-law, and Alexandre Halpern, the Société des Amis de la Pléiade (English, "society of the friends of the Pleiade"). In 1931, he launched a luxury edition of the great French and foreign authors, the ''Bibliothèque reliée de la Pléiade'' in which appeared a dozen volumes including the works of

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

, Racine, Voltaire,

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

, Laclos, Musset and Stendhal. He befriended many great writers of this period and especially with Andre Gide, with whom he undertook a translation into French of the novels of Pushkin, and with whom he became a close friend and corresponded for a period of thirty years. It was André Gide who urged

Gaston Gallimard Gaston Gallimard (; 18 January 1881 – 25 December 1975) was a French publisher. He founded ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' in 1908, together with André Gide and Jean Schlumberger (writer), Jean Schlumberger. In 1911 the trio established La ...

, the owner of the NRF editions, to integrate the ''Bibliothèque de la Pléiade'' (English, "library of the Pleiade") into the Gallimard publishing firm, something that was carried out on 31 July 1933. Schiffrin then became the first director of this book series. Naturalized French in 1937, Schiffrin was mobilized in 1939 into the French army. On 5 November 1940, following

anti-Jewish Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

laws, he was suddenly dismissed by Gaston Gallimard and went to take refuge in the United States with his family in 1941, via Marseille, Casablanca and Lisbon with the financial assistance of André Gide.« La fabrique Schiffrin »
dans ''

Libération (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968 in France, May 1968. Initially positioned on the far left of Fr ...

'' du 12 avril 2007. He moved to New York to continue his publishing profession by founding the

Pantheon Books Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint. Founded in 1942 as an independent publishing house in New York City by Kurt and Helen Wolff, it specialized in introducing progressive European works to American readers. In 1961, it was ...

editions with the German publisher couple Helen and Kurt Wolff. He never returned to France and died in New York from a respiratory illness.''Correspondance André Gide-Jacques Schiffrin''
sur le site de Gallimard.

The translator

Jacques Schiffrin translated Russian authors (

Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev ( ; rus, links=no, Иван Сергеевич ТургеневIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; – ) was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poe ...

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

) into French, which were published in 1929 by his first publishing house, and, after the war, by the French Book Club.Voir notices bibliographiques
sur le catalogue général de la BnF.

Personal life

Jacques Schiffrin is the brother of film producer Simon Schiffrin. He was married, from 1921 to 1927, to the French pianist Youra Guller, before her departure for Shanghai. He remarried Simone Heymann with whom he had two children, including

André Schiffrin André Schiffrin (June 14, 1935 – December 1, 2013) was a French-American author, publisher and socialist. Life Schiffrin was born in Paris, the son of Jacques Schiffrin, a Russian Jew who emigrated to France and briefly enjoyed success the ...

born in 1935..

Biography

Editor

The translator

Personal life

References

Further reading