Pierre De Geyter
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (October 2021) |
Pierre Chrétien De Geyter | |
---|---|
Native name | Pierre Chrétien Degeyter |
Born | Ghent, Belgium | 8 October 1848
Died | 26 September 1932 Saint-Denis, France | (aged 83)
Language | French |
Nationality | French |
Pierre Chrétien Degeyter (French: [pjɛʁ kʁetjɛ̃ də ɡetɛʁ], Flemish: [də ˈɣɛitər]; 8 October 1848 – 26 September 1932) was a Belgian-French socialist and a composer, known for writing the music of The Internationale.
Early life
Degeyter was born in
The Internationale
On 15 July 1888, Delory contacted Degeyter to compose music for several "Chants révolutionnaires" that were often sung at popular events with Lille socialists. Among these was a song that was to become the
It took Pierre one Sunday morning to compose his music on a
In fact, Pierre Degeyter had neglected to secure copyright. As the song became ever more popular, his brother Adolphe Degeyter claimed copyright in 1901 and began to collect royalties on it. Pierre had become estranged from the socialist establishment of Lille by siding with the left-wing opponents of the Bloc National government of 1902, and with the Marxist war opponents influenced by
Later life
In 1927, leaders of the Soviet Union discovered that the real author of The Internationale, which was then the Soviet Union's national anthem, was still alive. Pierre was invited to Moscow for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution and was in the stands of the honorary guests, with the German sculptor Käthe Kollwitz at his side. Joseph Stalin awarded him a Soviet Union state pension (according to some sources as a compensation for his copyright). As this was Pierre's only income, apart from modest fees collected on music for the other Pottier poems (particularly L'Insurgé and En avant la Classe Ouvrière) and on popular tunes he had also composed, and although the left-wing town administration of Saint-Denis granted him a free apartment, Pierre Degeyter spent the last years of his life in precarity. After his death at Saint-Denis in 1932, more than fifty thousand people attended his funeral.
In popular culture
After his death, even in France, his name mainly came up during copyright litigation cases. French courts ruled his compositions, including The Internationale, copyrighted until October 2017.[citation needed]
There is a Pierre Degeyter street in Ghent and there are Pierre Degeyter squares both in Lille (in Fives, the suburb where he used to live) and in Saint-Denis. Lille also named a procession giant after him. In Sofia (Bulgaria) there is a street Пиер Дегейтър. A bronze monument to Pierre Degeyter has adorned the Ghent MIAT (Museum of Industry, Labour and Textiles) since 1998.
A documentary film on Pierre Degeyter and the story of The Internationale was produced in 1978.[1]
Notes
References
- "Gij zijt kanalje! heeft men ons verweten", (pages 350–353) by Jaap van der Merwe (Utrecht, 1974), ISBN 90-229-7191-0