Jean-Paul Clébert

Jean-Paul Clébert (born 23 February 1926 – 21 September 2011) was a French writer.

Biography

Before completing his studies in a Jesuit college, Jean-Paul Clébert left to join the French Resistance in 1943 at the age of 16. After the liberation, he spent six months in Asia and then returned to France. He described his unusual life as follows:

My secondary education was interrupted by the war but continued as a prisoner. I have never had a regular job but have been successively a house painter, cook, newspaper seller, farm worker, navvy undertaker’s mute, valet, cafe proprietor and tramp. Lived for some years with gipsies and am now engaged on writing a book about them. Have also traveled widely in the East. I now live alone on a farm in Haute Provence.^[1]

On returning he lived for 3 or 4 years as a clochard amongst the many homeless people in the underground world of Paris.^[2] This experience inspired his classic study of the underworld of Paris Paris insolite/Unknown Paris (1952), which he dedicated to his companions Robert Giraud and photographer Robert Doisneau. The book was championed by the remaining Surrealists and the emerging Situationists, based their theory of the dérive on Clébert's principles, using this book as a literal guide to the underside of the city. An illustrated edition with photos of Patrice Molinard (who debuted as a stills photographer on Georges Franju's documentary le Sang des bêtes) and layout by Massin published in 1954. On the occasion of the books reissue by Attila in 2009 he said:

it was not a story in a journalistic sense, it was a personal investigation, it was me in the streets of Paris.^[3]

He spent some time in the capital where he attended the last Surrealist meeting and some of the first gatherings of the Situationists, who enjoyed exploring the cafes of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. For two years, he was a reporter in Asia for Paris Match and France Soir,^[4] before retiring in 1956 to Provence.

He second most influential book was Les Tziganes a pioneering sociological study of Gypsies, one of the finest studies of the subject at the time based on both archival research and personal experience (although it was also been criticism in recent years^[5]). The book was translated into English by Charles Duff in 1969.

He published various novels including The Blockhouse (1953, published in English in 1958), La Vie sauvage (1953) dedicated to Blaise Cendrars, who along with Henry Miller were Clébert's only masters.^[6] L'Ermite in 1984, L'Alchimiste du Roi-Soleil in 1994 and L'Esprit des hauts lieux, in 2000. In 1973 The Blockhouse, was made into a film directed by Clive Rees and starred Peter Sellers and Charles Aznavour.

In 1996 he published Dictionnaire du Surréalisme. In his later years he became interested in the history of the South of France and Provence where he resided until his death in Oppède in 2011. He published various works on the culture and history of the region, such as Rêver de Provence – Côte d'Azur (1967), Guide de la Provence mystérieuse (1992) and a three volumes of the series Provence antique (vol. 1 in 19666, vol. 2 in 1970 and vol. 3 in 1992). He was awarded the Prix littéraire de Provence in 1988.

Bibliography

• 1952 : Paris insolite. Denoël. 1952. ISBN 978-2-917084-11-3. , co-authored with Patrice Molinard (photographs), Reissued by Attila in 2009
• 1953 : La Vie sauvage. ASIN B0018G5FOG. 
• 1955 : Le Blockhaus. ASIN B0018GCKJE. 
• 1956 : Paris que j'aime. Sun. ASIN B0000DSD7B. 
• 1958 : Provence insolite. ASIN B0014XQ6BO. , co-author: Georges Glasberg, Pub. Éditions Grasset
• 1962 : Arthaud (ed.). Les Tziganes. ASIN B0000DLMFA. , illustrated by 64 photographs, 18 drawings and 2 maps
• 1966 : Provence antique. Laffont. ASIN B0010V5VD4. , 1 : des origines a la conquête romaine
• 1967 : Rêver de Provence – Côte d'Azur. Vilo. ASIN B0000DLUBH. 
• 1968 : Histoire et guide de la France secrète, co-author Aimé Michel, Encyclopédieplanéte. ASIN B0000DSMJN. 
• 1970 : Provence antique, 2 : l'époque gallo-romaine. Laffont. ASIN B0000DOWVG. 
• 1981 : Fort Chabrol (1899). Denoël. 1981. ISBN 978-2-207-22695-7. 
• 1984 : Mémoire du Luberon. Herscher. 1984. ISBN 978-2-7335-0076-7. 
• 1986 : La Provence de Pagnol. Edisud. 1986. ISBN 978-2-85744-376-6. 
• 1986 : L'Ermite. Albin Michel. 1986. ISBN 978-2-226-02138-0. 
• 1988 : Les Daudet, une famille bien française, 1840 1940. Presses de la Renaissance. 1988. ISBN 978-2-85616-454-9. 
• 1992 : Guide de la Provence mystérieuse. Sand et Tchou. 1992. ISBN 978-2-7107-0359-4. 
• 1992 : Guide de la France thermale. Horay. 1992. ISBN 978-2-7058-0024-6. 
• 1992 : Provence antique, 3 : Aux temps des premiers chrétiens. 1992. ISBN 978-2-221-06761-1. 
• 1993 : Provence. Éditions de La Martinière. 1993. ISBN 978-2-7324-2033-2. 
• 1994 : L'Alchimiste du Roi-Soleil. Albin Michel. 1994. ISBN 978-2-226-06916-0. 
• 1995 : La Durance. Rivières et vallées de France. Privat. 1995. ISBN 978-2-7089-9503-1. 
• 1996 : Dictionnaire du Surréalisme. Seuil. 1996. ISBN 2-02-024588-4. 
• 1996 : De Provence. Nathan. 1996. ISBN 978-2-09-284676-6. 
• 1996 : Histoire de la fin du monde, de l'an mil a l'an 2000. Belfond. 1996. ISBN 978-2-7144-3137-0. 
• 1998 : Vivre en Provence. Éditions de l'Aube. 1998. ISBN 978-2-87678-131-3. 
• 1998 : Femmes d'artistes. Presses de la Renaissance. 1998. ISBN 978-2-85616-499-0. 
• 1999 : La Littérature à Paris: L'histoire, les lieux, la vie littéraire. Larousse. 1999. ISBN 978-2-03-508004-2. 
• 2000 : L'Esprit des hauts lieux: 80 sites de France. Albin Michel. ISBN 978-2-226-02700-9.  genre=roman
• 2001 : Les Fêtes provençales. ISBN 978-2-7006-0246-3.  co-author Josiane Aoun and Béatrice Tollu, Aubanel : collection Nature Cote Sud
• 2003 : Prophéties de Nostradamus : Les Centuries, texte intégral (1555–1568). Dervy. 2003. ISBN 978-2-84454-260-1. 
• 2004 : Histoires et légendes de la Provence mystérieuse. Sand & Tchou. 2004. ISBN 978-2-7107-0362-4. 
• 2006 : Herbier provençal. Provence. Rivages. 2006. ISBN 978-2-903059-64-4. 
• 2007 : Marie Madeleine en Provence. Oxus Editions. 2007. ISBN 978-2-84898-096-6. 

Works in Translation

• 1956 : (English) The Paris I Love Text by Jean-Paul Clebert with photography by Patrice Molinard, with an introduction by Marcel Ayme, Tudor Publishing Company, New York
• 1958 : (English) The Blockhouse, Avon Books
• 1963 : (English) The Gypsies, Vista Books ASIN B0000CLPWG translated by Charles Duff
• 1997 : (German) Der Untergang der Welt, Pub. Lübbe

Notes

External links

• La mort de Jean-Paul Clébert, By Gregory Leménager, BibliObs http://bibliobs.nouvelobs.com/actualites/20110921.OBS0833/la-mort-de-jean-paul-clebert.html
• Interview with Jean-Paul Clébert by Olivier Bailly, BibliObs «Les clochards n'étaient pas des exclus comme aujourd'hui» 31 October 2009 http://bibliobs.nouvelobs.com/documents/20091031.BIB4327/les-clochards-n-039-etaient-pas-des-exclus-comme-aujourd-039-hui.html&usg=ALkJrhhss9nBsW5E2p36WcIGMPUXfjmhaA

• Le Vagabond de Paris, BibliObs, http://bibliobs.nouvelobs.com/documents/20091030.BIB4325/le-vagabond-de-paris.html
• Jean-Paul Clebert on IMDB