Vercors
Vercors, the pseudonym of French writer Jean Marcel Bruller, is a significant figure in the context of French literature and resistance during World War II. Born in Paris in 1902 to a Hungarian father and a French mother, Bruller initially pursued a career in electrical engineering before turning to art and satire. His perspective on France's rapid capitulation to Nazi forces led him to join the underground resistance, where he used the name Vercors, among others. He co-founded Editions de Minuit, a covert publishing house that defied Nazi censorship and produced over twenty works, including his acclaimed novella "Le Silence de la mer," which stirred anti-Nazi sentiments.
Throughout his life, Vercors published numerous essays, plays, and novels, including "Les Animaux Dénaturés" and "Sylva," while also developing a unique silk-screening technique for art reproduction. His contributions to the resistance earned him the Medaille de la Résistance, and he played a prominent role in the literary community as vice president of the French section of PEN and honorary president of the Comité National des Écrivains. Vercors's legacy is one of courage and creativity, reflecting the complexities of resistance and collaboration during a tumultuous period in history.
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Subject Terms
Vercors
Writer
- Born: February 26, 1902
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- Died: June 10, 1991
- Place of death: Paris, France
Biography
Jean Marcel Bruller was born in Paris, France, on February 26, 1902. His father was Hungarian and his mother was French. He studied to become an electrical engineer at a technical college, and he attended the University of Paris. He became a cartoonist and illustrator.
Prior to World War II, Bruller remained a rather obscure artist and satirist. Disturbed by what he viewed as France’s quick surrender to the invading Nazis, Bruller joined the underground resistance. While in the resistance, he used several pseudonyms, including Vercors and Desvignes. During the Nazi occupation of Paris, he cofounded a covert publishing house that printed and distributed literature necessary for the resistance. In direct defiance of the Nazi and Vichy governments, Editions de Minuit, or Midnight Press, produced more than twenty works. The first of these works was Bruller’s Le Silence de la mer (The Silence of the Sea). The book was published in more than thirty languages, and it helped incite anti-Nazi sentiments in the United States.
Another important publication was Bruller’s La Bataille du silence (The Battle of Silence), which provided his personal recollections of the dangers of publishing censored material, an offense that was punishable by death or torture. Also, the book discussed Bruller’s opinion that collaboration with the Nazis was, at least for him, a moral impossibility.
After the end of the war Brullers sold his interest in Midnight Press. He began to travel the world as a lecturer, and he continued to publish throughout his life. Much of his work was published using his pseudonym “Vercors,” and it is under this name that his work is best known. He published numerous essays and plays, and wrote the novels Les Animaux Dénaturés (You Shall Know Them) and Sylva.
As J. Bruller Vercors, he produced callichromies, which were reproductions of paintings using a process that he developed from silk-screening. Beginning in 1964, he designed sets and costumes for the Comédie Française in Paris. He received the Medaille de la Résistance for his work in the French underground during World War II. Also, Bruller was the vice president of the French section of PEN, and he was the honorary president of the Comité National des Écrivains.