René Crevel (; 10 August 1900 – 18 June 1935) was a French writer involved with the

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

movement.

Life

Crevel was born in Paris to a family of Parisian bourgeoisie. He had a traumatic religious upbringing. At the age of fourteen, his father committed suicide by hanging himself. Crevel studied literature and law at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

. He met

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

and joined the Dada movement as early as 1923 (Crevel would play the "Eye" character in Tzara's play ''Le Coeur à Barbe'', in July 1923), then got closer to

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'') o ...

and the Surrealists. During the 1923/1924 winter, a love affair between Crevel and American artist

Eugene McCown Eugene McCown or MacCown (July 27, 1898 – April 23, 1966) was an American pianist, painter of the École de Paris and writer, also remembered for being part of the chic bohemian set of Paris in the roaring twenties. Early life William Eugene ...

began. Through McCown, Crevel mingled with a chic bohemian crowd and got to know

Nancy Cunard Nancy Clara Cunard (10 March 1896 – 17 March 1965) was a British writer, heiress and political activist. She was born into the British upper class, and devoted much of her life to fighting racism and fascism. She became a muse to some of the ...

Francis Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

, Caresse and Harry Crosby, and others. From 1924, Crevel wrote novels such as ''Détours'' and ''Mon Corps et moi'' ("My Body and Me") where he would extensively write about his fears, his revolt and his feeling of malaise. In 1926 was published ''La Mort difficile'' ("Difficult Death"), a novel where he depicts his lover McCown as "Arthur Bruggle". The publication ended their love affair, though Crevel would be close to McCown till the end of his life. Also in 1924, he was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

which caused him to frequently leave Paris for sanatoriums, especially in Switzerland. The 1929 exile of Léon Trotsky persuaded him to rejoin the surrealists. Remaining faithful to Breton, he struggled to bring communists and surrealists closer together. In 1928, during a short stay in Berlin, he met Carl Sternheim's daughter, Dorothea, with whom he fell in love. Much of Crevel's work deals with his involvement as a communist and his inner turmoil at being

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, wh ...

.Renee Winegarten, "The golden boy of Surrealism: On René Crevel", ''The New Criterion'', February 1987, Crevel killed himself by turning on the gas on his kitchen stove the night of 18 June 1935—exactly the same way as he described in his first published book—several weeks before his 35th birthday. There were at least two direct reasons: (1) There was a conflict between Breton and

Ilya Ehrenburg Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (russian: link=no, Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг, ; – August 31, 1967) was a Soviet writer, revolutionary, journalist and historian. Ehrenburg was among the most prolific and notable autho ...

during the first "International Congress of Writers for the Defense of Culture" which opened in Paris in June 1935. Breton, who, like all fellow surrealists, had been insulted by Ehrenburg in a pamphlet which saidamong other thingsthat surrealists were

pederast Pederasty or paederasty ( or ) is a sexual relationship between an adult man and a pubescent or adolescence, adolescent boy. The term ''pederasty'' is primarily used to refer to historical practices of certain cultures, particularly Homosexua ...

s, slapped Ehrenburg several times on the street, which led to surrealists being expelled from the Congress. Crevel, who, according to

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, was "the only serious communist among surrealists", spent a whole day trying to persuade the other delegates to allow surrealists back, but he was not successful and left the Congress at 11:00 pm, totally exhausted. (2) Crevel reportedly had learned that he suffered from

renal The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; bloo ...

right upon leaving the Congress. He left a note which read "Please cremate my body. Loathing." When Breton included the question "Suicide: Is It a Solution?" in the first issue of '' La Révolution surréaliste'' in 1925, Crevel was one of those who answered "Yes". He wrote "It is most probably the most correct and most ultimate solution."

Publications

Original French

*''Détours'' (1924) *''Mon Corps et moi'' (1925) *''La Mort difficile'' (1926) *''Babylone'' (1927) *''L'Esprit contre la raison'' (1928) *''Êtes-vous fous?'' (1929) *''Le Clavecin de Diderot'' (1932) *''Les Pieds dans le plat'' (1933) *''Le Roman cassé et derniers écrits'' (1934–1935)

English translations

* ''My Body and I'' (translation of ''Mon Corps et Moi'';

Archipelago Books Archipelago Books is an American not-for-profit publisher dedicated to promoting cross-cultural exchange through international literature in translation." Located in Brooklyn, New York, it publishes small to mid-size runs of international fic ...

, 2005) * ''Babylon'' (translation of ''Babylone''), translated by Kay Boyle, North Point Press, 1985, ; Sun and Moon Press, 1996) * ''Putting My Foot in It'' (translation of ''Les Pieds dans le plat''; Dalkey Archive Press, 1994) * ''Difficult Death'' (translation of ''La Mort difficile''; Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986) * ''1830'' (Elysium Press, 1996) * ''The Noble Mannequin Seeks and Finds her Skin''; 1934 (translation from French in ''The Surrealism Reader''); Tate Publishing 2015,

References

External links

*
Putting My Foot in It
'. Official site for this translation. * René Crevel

Revue ''Le Disque Vert'', 2e année, 3e Série, n°1, 1924. * René Crevel

Revue ''Le Surréalisme Au Service De La Révolution'', n° 5, May 1933. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Crevel, Rene 1900 births 1935 suicides French communists Writers from Paris French surrealist writers Bisexual men Bisexual writers Suicides by gas Suicides in France Analysands of René Allendy 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French poets French male novelists French male poets 1935 deaths French LGBT writers