Jorge Semprún
Jorge Semprún | |
|---|---|
 Jorge Semprún at a book festival in Montpellier, 23 May 2009. | |
| Born | Jorge Semprún Maura 10 December 1923 Madrid, Spain |
| Died | 7 June 2011 (aged 87) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Author, screenwriter, politician |
| Language | Spanish, French, German, English |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Notable awards |
|
| Minister of Culture | |
| In office 12 July 1989 – 13 March 1991 | |
| Prime Minister | Felipe González |
| Preceded by | Javier Solana |
| Succeeded by | Jordi Solé Tura |
Jorge Semprún Maura (Spanish pronunciation:
He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras, Z (1969) and The Confession (1970), which dealt with the theme of persecution by governments. For his work on the films The War Is Over (1966) and Z (1969) Semprún was nominated for the Academy Award. In 1996, he became the first non-French author elected to the Académie Goncourt, which awards an annual literary prize. He won the 1997 Jerusalem Prize, and the 2002 Ovid Prize.
Early life and education
Jorge Semprún Maura was born in 1923 in Madrid. His mother was Susana Maura Gamazo, the youngest daughter of Antonio Maura, who served several times as prime minister of Spain. His father, José María Semprún Gurrea (1893–1966), was a liberal politician and served as a diplomat for the Republic of Spain during the Spanish Civil War.
Émigrés and World War II
In the wake of the military uprising led by General Franco in July 1936, the Semprún family moved to
During the Nazi occupation of France, the young Semprún joined the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans – Main-d'Œuvre Immigrée (FTP-MOI), a Resistance organization made up mostly of immigrants. After joining the Spanish Communist Party in 1942 in France, Semprún was reassigned to the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans (FTP), the Communist armed Resistance.[3] In 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp for his role in the Resistance.[4] He deals with the experiences in two books: Le grand voyage (1963) treats the journey to Buchenwald, and Quel beau dimanche! (1980) his camp experiences.[5]
In 1945 Semprún returned to France and became an active member of the exiled
Semprún wrote many novels, plays, and screenplays, for which he received several nominations, including an Academy Award in 1970, and awards, including the 1997 Jerusalem Prize. He was a screenwriter for two successive films by the Greek director Costa-Gavras, dealing with the theme of persecution by governments, Z (1969) and The Confession (1970). For his work on Z, he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay but did not win.[7]
He was a member of the jury at the
In 1996, Semprún became the first non-French author to be elected to the Académie Goncourt, which awards an annual prize for literature written in French. In 2002, he was awarded the inaugural Ovid Prize in recognition of his entire body of work, which focuses on "tolerance and freedom of expression".[9]
Jorge Semprún served as the honorary chairman of the Spanish branch of
Marriage and family
Semprún married the actress Loleh Bellon in 1949. Their son, Jaime Semprún (1947–2010), was also a writer. Later Semprún married the French film editor Colette Leloup in 1958. They had five children: Dominique Semprún, Ricardo Semprún, Lourdes Semprún, Juan Semprún and Pablo Semprún. He is the brother of the writer Carlos Semprún (1926-2009).
Style and themes
Semprún wrote primarily in French and alludes to French authors as much as to Spanish ones. Most of his books are fictionalized accounts of his deportation to Buchenwald. His writing is non-linear and achronological. The narrative setting shifts back and forth in time, exploring the past and future in relation to key events. With each recounting, events take on different meanings. Semprún's works are self-reflexive. His narrators explore how events live on in memory and means of communicating the events of the
Semprún's writing in Spanish deals with Spanish subject matter, and includes two volumes of memoirs: Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez, about his clandestine work in and later exclusion from the Spanish Communist Party (1953–64), and Federico Sánchez se despide de ustedes, which deals with his term of service as Minister of Culture in the second Socialist government of Felipe González (1988–91). A novel in Spanish, Veinte años y un día, is set in 1956 and deals with recent history in Spain.
Works
Semprún's first book, Le grand voyage (The Long Voyage in English; republished as The Cattle Truck in 2005 by Serif), was published in 1963 by Gallimard. It recounts Semprún's deportation and incarceration in Buchenwald in fictionalized form. A feature of the novel, and with Semprún's work in general, is its fractured chronology. The work recounts his train journey and arrival at the concentration camp. During the long trip, the narrator provides the reader with flashbacks to his experiences in the French Resistance and flash-forwards to life in the camp and after liberation. The novel won two literary prizes, the Prix Formentor and Prix littéraire de la Résistance ("Literary Prize of the Resistance").
In 1977, his Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez (Autobiography of Federico Sánchez) won the
What a Beautiful Sunday (Quel beau dimanche!), his novel of life in Buchenwald and after liberation was published by
Literature or Life was published by Gallimard in 1994. The French title, L'Ecriture ou la vie, might be better translated as "Writing or Life". Semprún explores themes related to deportation, but the focus is on living with the memory of the experience and how to write about it. Semprún revisits scenes from previous works and gives rationales for his literary choices.
- Books
- Grand voyage (Paris: Gallimard, 1963)
- Long voyage, translated by Richard Seaver (New York: Grove Press, 1964)
- Évanouissement (Paris: Gallimard, 1967)
- Deuxième mort de Ramón Mercader (Paris: Gallimard, 1969)
- Second death of Ramón Mercader, translated by Len Ortzen (New York: Grove Press, 1973)
- Segunda muerte de Ramón Mercader: novela, traducción por Carlos Pujol (Barcelona: Planeta, 1978)
- Repérages: Photographies de Alain Resnais, texte de Jorge Semprun (Paris: Chêne, 1974)
- Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez (Barcelona: Planeta, 1977)
- Autobiography of Federico Sanchez and the Communist underground in Spain, translated by Helen Lane (New York: Karz Publishers, c1979)
- Desvanecimiento: novela (Barcelona: Planeta, 1979)
- Quel beau dimanche (Paris: B. Grasset, c1980)
- What a beautiful Sunday!, translated by Alan Sheridan (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, c1982)
- Algarabie: roman (Paris: Fayard, c1981)
- Montand, la vie continue (Paris: Denoël J. Clims, c1983)
- Montagne blanche: roman (Paris: Gallimard, c1986)
- Netchaïev est de retour-- : roman (Paris: J.C. Lattès, c1987)
See also
References
- ^ Raphael Minder (8 June 2011). "Jorge Semprún, 87, Cultural Force in Spain, Dies". The New York Times.
- ISBN 978-1-84519-851-0.
- ^ With the agreement of the FTP-MOI, Semprún was assigned to the group Jean-Marie Action, supported by Maurice Buckmaster and the British (Semprún, Jorge. L'écriture ou la vie, Paris: Gallimard, 1994).
- ^ Semprún, Jorge. L'écriture ou la vie, Paris: Gallimard, 1994.
- JSTOR 3195281.
- ^ Cf. Autobiografía de Federico Sánchez
- ^ "Z - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Jorge Semprún". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
- ^ "Ovid Literary Prize Awarded to Spanish Author Jorge Semprún". Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
- ^ Acción Contra el Hambre website.
- cafébabel. Archived from the originalon 20 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- .
Sources
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, La obra de Jorge Semprún. Claves de interpretación, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Oxford, Wien, Peter Lang, 2012.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime (Université d'Artois, ed.), Cinéma et engagement: Jorge Semprún scénariste, nº 140, CinémAction, Corlet Éditions, 2011.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «André Malraux chez Jorge Semprún: l'héritage d'une quête», in Revue André Malraux Review, n° 33, Michel Lantelme (editor), Norman, University of Oklahoma, 2005, pp. 86–101.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «La dimensión biográfica de Veinte años y un día de Jorge Semprún», in Tonos. Revista Electrónica de Estudios Filológicos, n° 10, University of Murcia, 2005.
- Céspedes Gallego, Jaime, «Un eslabón perdido en la historiografía sobre la Guerra Civil: Las dos memorias de Jorge Semprún», in Cartaphilus. Revista de investigación y crítica estética, n° 5, University of Murcia, 2009.
- Drakopoulou, Eugenia. «The Revivification of Baroque Paintings in the Novels of Jorge Semprun», in Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 8. Ed. S. V. Mal’tseva, E. Iu. Staniukovich-Denisova, A. V. Zakharova. St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg Univ. Press, 2018, pp. 701–707. ISSN 2312-2129.
- Johnson, Kathleen A. "The Framing of History: Jorge Semprun's «La Deuxieme Mort de Ramon Mercader", in French Forum, vol. 20, n° 1, January 1995, pp. 77–90.
- Fox Maura, Soledad, «Jorge Semprún, The Spaniard Who Survived the Nazis and Conquered Paris», Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies / Sussex Academic Press, 2017.
External links
- Lila Azam Zanganeh (Spring 2007). "Jorge Semprún, The Art of Fiction No. 192". The Paris Review. Spring 2007 (180).
- Jorge Semprún at IMDb
- Portrait of Jorge Semprún by Braun-Vega.