Jehan Rictus (21 September 1867 – 6 November 1933) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He was born Gabriel Randon in

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...

. In the 1900s, he legally changed his name to his mother's name Randon de Saint-Amand. After an unhappy childhood and poor beginnings in the life, Gabriel Randon took the pseudonym of Jehan Rictus. He found success in 1895 with poems that he interpreted in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

ian cabarets. These poems that Rictus interpreted, called ''Soliloques du Pauvre'' (Soliloquies of the Poor), were published in 1897. A few other volumes of verse followed, with ''Le Coeur populaire'' being published in 1914. At the time of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he stopped publishing. He also forsook his anarchism for nationalist opinions. He is also the author of an autobiographical novel, ''Fil de fer'', and of a vast

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

. The first five booklets were published in 2005.

Works

*''Les Soliloques du Pauvre'' (1897) *''Doléances'' (1900) *''Les Cantilènes du malheur'' (1902) *''Les Soliloques du Pauvre'' (1903) *''Fil de Fer'' (1906) *''Le Coeur populaire'' (1914)

Literatur

* Gaston Ferdière: ''Jehan-Rictus : son œuvre ; portrait et autographe ; document pour l'histoire de la littérature française'', Paris : Éd. de la Nouv. Révue Critique, 1935 * René Martineau: ''Quelques aspects de Jehan Rictus'', Paris : Messein, 1935 * Eugène Porret et Etienne Chipier: ''Jehan-Rictus et la misère'', Couvet (Neuchâtel) : Éditions de la Roulotte, 1947 * Théophile Briant: ''Jehan Rictus : avec un choix de textes, une bibliographie, des illustrations'', Paris : Seghers, 1973 * Philippe Oriol: ''Jehan-Rictus : la vraie vie du poète'', Dijon : Éd. Univ. de Dijon, 2015,

External links

Works and documents (in French)
* French poets Burials at the Cimetière parisien de Bagneux 1867 births 1933 deaths French male poets {{France-poet-stub