Jacques Spitz (1 October 1896, in Nemours ow Ghazaouet, Algeria">Ghazaouet.html" ;"title="ow Ghazaouet">ow Ghazaouet, Algeria] – 16 January 1963, in Paris) was a French novelist. Spitz was an engineer; he wrote several science fiction novels which were greatly influential in Scientific Marvelous, European science fiction. Cynical, ironic, often pessimist, influenced by

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

, his style is reminiscent of

Pierre Boulle Pierre François Marie Louis Boulle (20 February 1912 – 30 January 1994) was a French author. He is best known for two works, '' The Bridge over the River Kwai'' (1952) and '' Planet of the Apes'' (1963), that were both made into award-winning ...

's. Although some of his novels were reissued in France''Joyeuses Apocalypses'', Éditions Bragelonne, 2009 (anthologie contenant ''La Guerre des mouches'', ''L'Homme élastique'', ''La Guerre mondiale n°3'' et six nouvelles), see the external link , he is mostly forgotten and his novels are very difficult to find, even in France. However, some of his works has been translated into Italian: ''L'œil du purgatoire'', ''L'Homme Élastique'', ''La Guerre des Mouches'', and ''Les Signaux du Soleil'' (the latter being published in 2009). At least one novel was translated into Swedish: ''L'Agonie du Globe'' (''När jorden rämnade'', 1937). Two of his novels were translated into Greek: ''Les Évadés de l'an 4000'' (''Οι Δραπέτες του 4.000 μΧ'', 1971) and ''L'Expérience du Dr. Mops'' (''Κραυγή από το Μέλλον'', 1971) His masterworks are considered to be ''La guerre des mouches'', ''L'homme élastique'', and ''L'œil du purgatoire''. The latter, meaning "The Eye of Purgatory", is about a man whose eyes, due to an exotic

bacterium Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among the ...

, start to see things as they will appear in the future.

Works

*''La Croisière Indécise'' (1926) *''La Mise en Plis'' (1928) *''Le Vent du Monde'' (1928) *''Le Voyage Muet'' (1930) *''Les Dames de Velours'' (1933) *''L'Agonie du Globe'' (1935) *''Les Évadés de l'an 4000'' (1936) *''L'Homme Élastique'' (1938) *'' La Guerre des Mouches'' (1938) *''L'Expérience du Dr. Mops'' (1939) (translated by

Brian Stableford Brian Michael Stableford (25 July 1948 – 24 February 2024) was a British academic, critic and science fiction writer who published a hundred novels and over a hundred volumes of translations. His earlier books were published under the name Br ...

in ''The Eye of Purgatory'' (2010) ) *''La Parcelle "Z"'' (1942) *''Les Signaux du Soleil'' (1943) *''L'Œil du Purgatoire'' (1945) (translated by Brian Stableford in ''The Eye of Purgatory'' (2010) ) *''La Forêt des Sept-Pies'' (1946) *''Albine au Poitrail'' (1956)

References

*Most of this article has been taken from the French Wikipedia article about Jacques Spitz. *Afterword of ''Incubi perfetti'', the Italian edition of ''La guerre des mouches'' and ''L'homme élastique'' (Mondadori, ''Urania''), #1510, May 2006).

External links

A review of ''L'Œil du Purgatoire'' by Denis Philippe

An article from Figaro Littéraire of 8 April 1950 (in French)
from

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

René Barjavel René Barjavel (24 January 1911 – 24 November 1985) was a French author, journalist and critic who may have been the first to think of the grandfather paradox in time travel. He was born in Nyons, a town in the Drôme department in southeas ...

"French Science Fiction: The Occluded Genre""Search the last edition in France"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spitz, Jacques 1896 births 1963 deaths People from Ghazaouet Pieds-noirs French science fiction writers French male novelists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers