Paul Nizan
Paul Nizan was a French writer and philosopher, born on February 7, 1905, in Tours, France. He became notable for his association with prominent intellectuals, including Jean-Paul Sartre, during his time as a student at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris. Although he left the university without a degree, Nizan's early career included tutoring in Aden and later resuming his studies in Paris, where he married Henriette Alphen. He aligned himself with the French Communist Party, reflecting his political beliefs in his literary works.
Nizan authored three novels and an autobiographical book titled "Aden, Arabie," which draws from his experiences in Yemen. His commitment to Communism is evident in his writings, although he distanced himself from the party following the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, which caused him moral outrage. Nizan served in the French Army during World War II and tragically lost his life in battle on May 23, 1940, during the Battle of Dunkirk. Today, he is primarily remembered for "Aden, Arabie," especially following its re-publication in 1960, which included a preface by Sartre.
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Paul Nizan
Writer
- Born: February 7, 1905
- Birthplace: Tours, France
- Died: May 23, 1940
- Place of death: Dunkerque, France
Biography
Paul Nizan was born in Tours, France, on February 7, 1905, the son of a railroad engineer. While a high school student in Paris, Nizan became acquainted with author and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1924, Nizan began his university studies in Paris at the Ecole Normale Supérieure, the most prestigious French university for future professors in the humanities. He left the university without a degree in 1926 and moved to Aden, where from 1926 to 1927 he tutored the son of a French businessman named Antonin Besse. In 1931, Nizan published an autobiography Aden, Arabie (published in English as Aden, Arabia, 1968), based on his year in Aden. Upon his return to Paris, he resumed his university studies, married Henriette Alphen, and joined the French Communist Party. The Nizans eventually had three children.
Upon his graduation from the Ecole Normale Supérieure in 1929, he became a philosophy teacher in a French high school in the provincial town of Bourg-en-Bresse. After the publication in 1933 of Antoine Bloyé (published in English as Antoine Bloyé, 1973), the first of the three novels that he wrote between 1932 and 1938, he became a full-time writer. His three novels reveal his strong commitment to Communism and they have fallen into relative oblivion. He and his family spent 1934 in the Soviet Union. Upon his return to France, he began writing articles for various French Communist newspapers and magazines.
However, in September, 1939, he resigned from the French Communist Party to express his revulsion against the Molotov- Ribbentrop Pact of August 23, 1939, by which Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union became allies and agreed to divide up Eastern Europe. Nizan joined the French Army in late 1939 and he was killed on May 23, 1940, during the Battle of Dunkirk. In 1960, his autobiographical work Aden, Arabie was republished in Paris with a glowing preface by his friend Jean-Paul Sartre. Nizan is now known largely for this autobiographical work.