Jean Tardieu (; born in Saint-Germain-de-Joux, Ain, 1 November 1903, died in

Créteil Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...

, Val-de-Marne, 27 January 1995) was a French artist, musician, poet and dramatic author.

Life and career

He earned a degree in literature and worked for a publishing house. He published several poetry collections in the 1930s before starting to write for the stage. After World War II, Tardieu entered the world of radio and worked his way to head of dramatic programming and then director of programs at France-Music. The quality and success of French National Public Radio after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

has been attributed largely to Jean Tardieu. He was married to pteridologist Marie Laure Tardieu. Tardieu's works mingled with the ideals of the French New Theatre and used comedy to pick apart more traditional theatre. He is often associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. Some of his work has been translated into English, including: * ''The Underground Lovers, and other experimental plays'' * ''Going...Going...Gone! The Client Dies Twice: Three Plays'' ( Black Apollo Press, ) * ''The River Underground: Selected Poems & Prose'' Some of his work is present in

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's 1963 novel '' Rayuela'' (''Hopscotch''). Tardieu's work is included in Chapter 152, entitled "The Abuse of Consciousness". The end of his poem «Monsieur interroge Monsieur» is quoted in

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

's ''

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''. The French composer

Germaine Tailleferre Germaine Tailleferre (; born Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse; 19 April 18927 November 1983) was a French composer and the only female member of the group of composers known as ''Les Six''. Biography Marcelle Germaine Taillefesse was born at Saint- ...

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, who was a harp student of Tardieu's mother Caroline Luigini and who first met Tardieu as a child, set several of Tardieu's poems to music notably in the "Concerto des Vaines Paroles" for Baritone Voice, Piano and Orchestra and in the cycle "Trois Poèmes de Jean Tardieu" for Voice and Piano. He was a great friend of

Jean René Bazaine Jean René Bazaine (; 21 December 1904 – 4 March 2001) was a French Painting, painter, designer of stained glass windows and writer. He was the great great grandson of the English Court portraitist George Hayter, Sir George Hayter. Studies Baz ...

who turned his poem ''L'Ombre, la branche'' into a fine illustrated art book.( Maeght Éditeur, 1977: 150 ex. with 16 colored litho's, 50 ex. with three added litho's.)

References

1903 births 1995 deaths People from Ain Lycée Condorcet alumni 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French poets {{theat-bio-stub