Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1893-1945) was a French writer and political figure known for his complex and often controversial views. Born in Paris to a legal family, he initially pursued a career in civil service but shifted to literature after serving in World War I, where he had formative experiences that influenced his writing. Drieu's literary career commenced in the 1920s, producing a range of works including essays, poetry, and novels, with notable titles such as *L'homme couvert de femmes* and *Plainte contre inconnu*.
Throughout his life, he became increasingly aligned with right-wing ideologies, expressing admiration for Germany under Nazi rule, which led to his role as editor of the Nouvelle Revue Française during World War II. His later life was marked by personal struggles, including failed marriages and his eventual suicide in 1945, amid the fallout from his collaborationist stance. Posthumously, Drieu's legacy has been re-evaluated, recognizing his influence on figures like Jean-Paul Sartre, despite the controversies surrounding his political affiliations. His works continue to be studied for their insights into the cultural and political climate of early 20th-century France.
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Pierre Drieu La Rochelle
Writer
- Born: January 3, 1893
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- Died: March 16, 1945
- Place of death: Paris, France
Biography
Pierre-Eugene Drieu La Rochelle was born in 1893 in Paris, France, to Emmanuel, a lawyer, and Eugénie-Marie Lefèvre, the daughter of an architect. He attended a Catholic private school, visiting England several times in 1908 and 1909. In 1910, he entered the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, with a view to becoming a civil servant or a diplomat, but managed to fail his final exams, although a bright student. In 1913, he entered the military for his compulsory three-year assignment.
At the outbreak of World War I, Drieu’s battalion was involved in the battle of Charleroi on the Belgian border in August, 1914. Half of the battalion were killed, and Drieu himself was slightly wounded. The experience became the subject of one of his best-known story collections. Action in Champagne, the Dardanelles, and Verdun saw further wounds for Drieu. He was excused front-line duty until 1918, when he acted as interpreter to the newly arrived American troops.
He had his first poems published while on sick leave in 1916, meeting the writer Louis Aragorn. The two became friends until political differences separated them later. In August, 1917, Drieu married Colette Jéramec, from a wealthy Jewish family, who set up a trust fund to support his literary activity. The couple separated in 1920 and divorced a year later. In 1919, Drieu was demobilized and decorated.
During the 1920’s, Drieu became involved with various modernist movements in France, and his earliest essays, poems, and dialogues were published in avant-garde magazines as well as the Nouvelle Revue Française, an influential mainstream literary magazine. Etat civil, his first prose work, appeared in 1921, a mixture of memoir, self-analysis, and analysis of contemporary French society. His political essay Mesure de la France followed a year later.
His first venture into fiction was the collection of short stories, Plainte contre inconnu, tales of deracinated French youth. His first novel, L’homme couvert de femmes appeared in 1925, featuring Gille Gambier as protagonist. Gille was to appear in two later novels, becoming a persona of Drieu himself. On the whole, Drieu’s work did not attract great acclaim or many sales. He became increasingly right-wing in his views, admiring German ideas of a united Europe standing against Russia and the U.S. When Hitler came to power, he traveled to Germany and was greatly impressed by the Nazi rallies.
A second marriage failed in the late 1920’s but was followed by his best period of writing between 1927 and 1934. He continued to write a great mixture of novels, plays, essays, and commentary on the political and cultural scene. When France fell to the Germans in World War II, he revived the Nouvelle Revue Française as its editor, and he supported the French collaboration. On the defeat of the Nazis, and under threat of being tried as a war collaborator, he committed suicide in 1945. His postwar reputation was affected by his political views, but his influence on leading French writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre has since been recognized, and several books have been republished or published posthumously.