Georges Henein

Georges Henein

Georges Henein (1914 – 1973) was an Egyptian surrealist author.

Biography

Born in Cairo in 1914, son of a coptic diplomat father and an Italian mother, Henein studied in Europe, where he befriended André Breton and Henri Calet. In 1933 he became a columnist in Egytian newspapers, notable for his juicy, enlightening or nasty tone.

Back from Paris in the 30’s, he spread surrealism in Cairo by founding the group Art et Liberté (Albert Cossery was a member), and then by creating the journal (and publishing house) La Part du Sable with poet Edmond Jabès and painter Ramsès Younane. He participated in the journal Troisième Convoi (1945–1951), created by his friend Michel Fardoulis-Lagrange and Jean Maquet. In Paris, he co-directed the surrealist liaison office “Cause”, but in 1948, he withdrew from the Surrealist movement, while still publishing his poems in Phases journal. In the 60’s, he got involved in journalism, in charge of Third World issues for the news magazines Jeune Afrique and L’Express.

While forced to exile in France by the Egyptian government in 1962 - due to his anti-fascist ideas, Henein worked as a journalist. Writing on Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Marilyn Monroe or Françoise Hardy, Henein stood out for his free, alert and unalterable tone. He used to work with an urgency allowing him to be scandalized or to be moved in the same breath, with a rage sometimes tinged with melancholy, sometimes with perfidy. An example : “ Raymond Roussel snubbed Marcel Proust , and, for that alone, he deserves our sympathy.” (Guliver, Paris, 1973)

Bibliography

Déraisons d'être, José Corti, Paris, 1938
Un temps de petite fille, Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1947
L'Incompatible, La Part du sable, Paris, 1949
Le Seuil interdit, Mercure de France, Paris, 1956
Le Signe le plus obscur, Présence, Paris, 1977
La Force de saluer, La Différence, Paris, 1978
L'Esprit frappeur : carnets 1940-1973, Encre, 1980
Œuvres. Poésies, récits, essais et articles, forewords by Yves Bonnefoy and Berto Fahri, Denoël, Paris, 2006

External links

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