Pierre Minet (Reims 1909– Paris 1975) was a 20th-century French poet and writer, whose early career is closely associated to the ' movement and to his devotion to
Roger Gilbert-Lecomte. Critics, who have contrasted the small size of his production with its substantive and stylistic quality, recognise in ''La Défaite'', published in 1947 and subtitled "Confessions", an autobiographical masterpiece, its author's definitive claim to literary fame, that attracted the praise of
Antonin Artaud
Antoine Maria Joseph Paul Artaud (; ; 4September 18964March 1948), better known as Antonin Artaud, was a French artist who worked across a variety of media. He is best known for his writings, as well as his work in the theatre and cinema. Widely ...
("une sensibilité unique au monde"
a thoroughly unique sensibility" and of
André Breton
André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
("Celui qui sait parler de la liberté comme il en parle est moins vaincu que quiconque"
Someone who knows how to speak of freedom as he does is less defeated than anyone" – while the great Italian critic and writer
Roberto Bazlen
Roberto Bazlen, also known as Bobi Bazlen (10 June 1902 – 27 July 1965) was an Italian writer and publicist.
Biography
Bazlen was born in Trieste on 10 June 1902. His father, Eugenio Bazlen, a Lutheran native of Stuttgart, died one year after h ...
declared he had never read "un livre dans lequel l’intolérance est aussi constitutive, et aussi ''echt'' (authentique), et aussi éloignée de toute possibilité de compromis..."
a book so intransigent, so authentic in its rejection of any possibility of compromise..." Somehow branded as a "livre-culte", ''La Défaite'' has had four editions, the latest one by Allia (2010), and has so far been translated in Spanish (''La derrota'', Pepitas de calabaza, 2018) and Italian (''La sconfitta'', Neri Pozza, 2023) to critical acclaim. Also a playwright, radio producer and journalist, Minet has left a dense diary of which extracts have been published (''En mal d’Aurore, Journal 1932–1975'', Le bois d'Orion, 2002).
The corresponding entry "Pierre Minet" of the
Literary Encyclopedia contains a comprehensive summary of Minet's life and works:
http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13202 [http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13202]]
1909 births
1975 deaths
Writers from Reims
20th-century French poets
French male poets
20th-century French male writers
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