Robert Goffin
Robert Goffin | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 27 June 1984 Genval, Belgium | (aged 86)
Nationality | Belgian |
Robert Goffin (21 May 1898 – 27 June 1984) was a Belgian lawyer, author, and poet, credited with writing the first "serious" book on jazz, Aux Frontières du Jazz in 1932.[1][2]
Life
Robert Goffin was born in Ohain, Brabant Province in Belgium in 1898. His mother was unmarried, and his pharmacist grandfather supported them. In 1916, Goffin completed his humanities study at the Athenaeum of Saint-Gilles where he was a classmate of the future artist Paul Delvaux.[3] Two years later, Goffin published his first collection of poetry, Rosaire des soirs (lit. 'Evening Rosary') while he was studying law at the Free University of Brussels.
By 1923, he was a lawyer at the Court of Appeal of Brussels, and in 1928, he married Suzanne Lagrange. During this period, his focus shifted to the new American art form, jazz, and in 1932 he published what is considered the first serious book on the new genre, Aux Frontières du Jazz (lit. 'On the Frontiers of Jazz').[1]
He was active in denouncing the
After the war, he returned to Belgium to again take up his legal activities at the Court of Appeal of Brussels. In 1952, he joined the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature, becoming director in 1971, and director of the Belgian
Selected works
- "The Best Negro Jazz Orchestra", 1934, printed in Negro, Nancy Cunard, ed.
- Was Leopold a traitor?: The story of Belgium's eighteen tragic days, 1941.
- The White Brigade, 1944.
- Patrie de la poésie, 1945.
- Histoire du jazz, 1945.
- La Nouvelle-orleans, Capitale Du Jazz, 1945.
- Jazz from the Congo to the Metropolitan, 1943.
- Horn of Plenty: The Story of Louis Armstrong, originally published as Louis Armstrong, le roi du jazz ("the king of jazz"), 1947.
- Le roi du Colorado ("The king of Colorado"), 1958.
Notes
References
- Brown, John Robert (2006) Mel Bay's Concise History of Jazz , Mel Bay Publications, ISBN 978-0-7866-4983-9.
- Epperson, Bruce. ""European Jazz Discography and the Creation of a New Art Music, 1932–1976", Exhibit Notes". Retrieved 20 August 2010.
- Gale Contemporary Authors Online Farmington Hills, Mich.: Thomson Gale. 2007.
- Goffin, Robert (1934). "The Best Negro Jazz Orchestra". Retrieved 20 August 2010. Translated by Samuel Beckett.
- Libens, Christian "Robert Goffin: poète, essayiste, amateur de Jazz", Province de Luxembourg, Département des Affaires Culturelles, Service du Livre Luxembourgeois.