Pierre Louis known as Pierre Louÿs , born with Ghent (Belgium) the December 10th 1870 and died in Paris the June 6th 1925, is a Poète and Romancier French.

Biography

Pierre Louÿs makes his studies with the school Alsacienne of Paris, where it binds friendship with his school-fellow André Gide. He writes his first texts during his adolescence and holds a newspaper. Still young man, it starts to be interested in the literary movement of the Parnassus, of which it attends the poets emblematic: Leconte de Lisle, José-Maria de Heredia (of which he will marry in 1899 more the young girl, Louise and will be the lover of the junior, Marie, wife of Henri de Régnier). It will also evolve/move in the medium Symbolist.

It founds in 1891 the literary review the Conch , where works of parnassiens authors and Symbolists will be published: Masters being used as models like Mallarmé, Moréas, Leconte de Lisle or Verlaine but also of young still unknown poets like Valéry, Andre Gide and Louÿs itself.

Its first collection of poetries, Astarté , appears in 1893, followed in 1894 of the Chansons of Bilitis which remains its most known work, in addition to being a proud example of literary mystification: indeed, Louÿs makes some pass these poems for a translation of a contemporary Greek poetess of Sappho. This collection of short poetic prose poems is marked by the influences of the hellenistic Parnassus and symbolism with a deep taste of the sensuality, the bucolique one (in its first part) and of the elegant erotism. The natural and invaluable evocations côtoient burning erotic scenes thus there, in a perfect style. These poems inspired certain musicians from of which Claude Debussy which drew three compositions from them, with the friendly collaboration of Louÿs.

Its Romance first , Aphrodite (ancient manners) is published in 1896. In a style associating extreme refinement in pleasure and sought decadentism, the novel accepted a success of regard in the literary circles post-parnassiens like near the general public (thanks to a laudatory article of François Coppée).

Its following novel the Woman and the puppet (1898) occurs at the time contemporary. This novel, adding the dramatic one to the sensuality, will prove to be the chief of work of Louÿs, without representing declining passions of them but rather a complex atmosphere of tortured affects. Novel was drawn a musical drama: Conchita (1911), by Zingarini and Vaucaire on a music of Riccardo Zandonai; then several films: the Woman and the puppet (The Devil has Woman) Josef von Sternberg with Marlène Dietrich (1935), the Woman and the puppet of Julien Duvivier with Brigitte Bardot (1959) then This obscure object of the desire of Luis Buñuel with Fernando Rey and Carole Bouquet (1977).

He still wrote the Adventures of the king Pausole (1901) but its financial problems overpower it and Louÿs has much evil to write (still to publish more) starting from the beginning of the 20th century. It then gives primarily collections of articles and news, published beforehand in the newspapers.

Paradoxically, it is towards 1917 qu ' it writes its more beautiful texts, Isthi (published without name of author to a few hundreds of specimens), Poëtique and especially its lyric masterpiece, the Pervigilium mortis , remained new a long time. Its Derniers towards - very bitter - is not published either.

Throughout his life, Pierre Louÿs wrote a very great number of curiosa , doubling, in particular and systematically, his works published of an erotic version. Its texts, often ironic, begin again in the shape rascal of serious works like the quatrains of Pybrac or the Manuel of civility for the little girls with the use of the houses of education . He also told his difficult relations with the three girls Heredia and their mother in Three Girls of their mother , published under the coat after his death.

Pierre Louÿs is also a bibliophile, who had a library of more than 20  000 volumes (of which unica ) and a very fine knowledge of the old literature. Impassioned bibliography, it published several articles on these questions and especially made thousands of cards which it yielded to his friend Frederic Lachèvre, author of a Bibliographie of the collective collections of poetries published of 1597 to 1700 which still refers today. Frederic Lachèvre published itself the letters which it received from Pierre Louÿs, after the death of this last under the title, Pierre Louÿs and the literary history (Paris, 1925).

Pierre Louÿs is buried with the Cimetière of Montparnasse.

Texts

Tomb of a young courtesan , in songs of Bilitis :

“to lie Here the delicate body of Lydé, the small merriest dove, of all the courtesans, who more than very other liked the orgies, the floating hair, soft dances and tunics of Hyacinthe.

More than very other, it liked the tasty glottisms, the caresses on the cheek, the plays which the lamp only sees and the love which breaks the members. And now, it is a small shade.

But before putting it at the tomb, one marvelously capped it and one laid down it in the pinks; the stone even which recovers it is all impregnated gasolines and perfumes.

crowned Ground, nurse of all, accommodate the poor dead gently, deaden it in your arms, O Mother! and make push around the stele, not the nettles and the brambles, but the tender white violets. ”

Complete text available here

Works

• Astarté , 1891
• Lêda or the praise of happy darkness , 1894
• ARIANE or the way of eternal peace , 1894
• the House on the Nile or appearances of the virtue , 1894
• Songs of Bilitis , 1894
• Danaë or misfortune , 1895
• Aphrodite , 1896
• the Woman and the puppet , 1898
• Byblis or the enchantment of the tears , 1898
• Adventures of the king Pausole , 1901
• Pervigilium Mortis (not published), 1917
• Isthi , 1917
• Poëtique , 1917 Manual
• of civility for the little girls with the use of the houses of education , 1926
• Three Girls of their mother , 1926
• Pybrac and Psyché , 1927
• At the Time of the Judges , 1933

• Its newspaper is published after its death and is supplemented in 2003 ( My Newspaper (May 20th, 1888 - March 14th, 1890) , ED. Alban Cherry tree, the Books of the NRF , 232 p.)

• Pierre Louÿs is also the author of an exceptional correspondence of which a part was already published (with Claude Debussy, Paul Valéry and André Gide, his brother Georges Louis ( Thousand Letters new of Pierre Louÿs in Georges Louis 1890-1917 , ED. Jean-Paul Pin, Beech, 1320 p.) or José-Maria de Heredia ( new Correspondence , ED. Jean-Paul Pin, Champion, 2006)

Illustrators

Many artists illustrated works of Pierre Louÿs, including Louis Icart, Pascal Pia, Marcel Vertès, Rojan, Paul-Emile Bécat, Mariette Lydis, Milo Manara, Claire Wendling, Georges Pichard, Silvio Cadelo.

On Pierre Louÿs

• Pierre Louÿs by Jean-Paul Pin, Editions Beech, 880 p.
• secret File Pierre-Louÿs-Marie de Régnier by Jean-Paul Pin, Christian Bourgois, 190 p.
• Pierre Louÿs, the hermit of the hamlet by Paul-Ursin Dumont, Libraidisque, Vendôme, 1985,315 p.
• Pierre Louys intimates - " The recluse of the hameau" by Cardinne-Small R., Jean-Fox, 1942,180 p.

External bonds

• Pierre Louÿs, History of king Gonzalve and the twelve princesses, published at the expense of a bibliophile, Madrid, 1927.
• eBooksGratuits proposes some texts of Pierre Louÿs
• Site on Pierre Louÿs
• Site on Pierre Louÿs
• Généalogie of Pierre Louÿs
• Nouvelles on line on the electronic Library of Lisieux.
• Pierre Louÿs, bibliophile, erotomaniac and in love Malayan Nicolas, the Esthetic Shiver n°3, 2006.

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