User talk:Reneemp

D'un sertisseur de ronds tel que je suis, qui me lira ne comprendra rien.

Rene Glotz was born in Paris on December 1st, 1903 to a family of bankers, businessmen and academicians.He was the youngest of two children. The family was originally from the Alsace-Lorraine region and had come to Paris after opting for French nationality in 1872. His parents were supporters of the arts: theatre and music, and early education. His exposure to these influences at a very young age was clearly evidenced in his writings: La musique cesse-t-on de jouer,ne se tait brusquement qu'en apparence. Elle couvre le premier silence qui la suit, de l'ombre d'elle meme. J'aime le silence ou la musique se survit… les échos des âmes l'ont purifiée de matière."

In 1924, at the age of 21, he received his doctorat-es-lettres, earning the distinction of being the youngest in France of that era to receive that degree. He received a very honorable mention for his dissertation on the Variations in the Contemplations of Victor Hugo along with a supplementary thesis. These works are cited in critical bibliographies of Victor Hugo. In 1928 he published a series of musings and fantasies entitled A Mon Gre at the publishing house, Au Sans Pareil, known for its work with the early surrealists. The work was reviewed by many notable authors and critics, including Duhamel, Cremieux, Vuillermoz andLouis Martin-Chauffier. The latter described the prose as lyrical and with an almost 1890's preciosity.He hoped that this young new writer could fulfill his promise of surprising virtuosity.As an avid reader of the literature literary greats of the era, he dedicated many of his books to them with words that belied hus admiration for their artistry.Many were Americans, part of the expatriate scene in Paris in the 20s and 30s, At the time of publication of A Mon Gre, four new works were listed as in preparation: Les Symphonies: Aries et Beatrice, ou La Symphonie Amoureuse,and Religion.A work of fiction. Eurydice, was also mentioned. None of these were published except for an excerpt of Eurydice that appeared in May 1930 in the journal, Le Genie Francais, Revue Mensuelle de la Poesie, Litterature et Arts edited by Emile Vitta An Italian translation of A Mon Gre was published by Alfredo Formica in Turin in 1930 with a preface by Georges Duhamel

As a young man, M. Glotz travelled to Nancy where he had family and while there gave lectures on Victor Hugo, In the audience of one of these audiences, sat a young women from Marrakech who was to become his wife. She was studying Mathematics but was also well versed in the French classics. They fell in love and married in Casablanca in 1930. He and his wife were frequent visitors to Morocco. He enjoyed long solitary walks through the streets of Marrakech, stopping to jot his thoughts down on scraps of paper; his pockets were overflowing with his ideas for a story or an article, some would to the ground, the purple ink identifying them as his. His path could be traced by following his words down the dusty streets, much like the crumbs dropped by Hansel and Gretel although he was lost only in reverie.

Glotz reviewed a series of new works in the journals :Europe and La Revue Europeene.In January of 1930, he created a story called Venise for diffusion on the program Ondes Enfantines of Radio-Paris, read by Suzanne de Sainte-Croix he He also published that year Une Page d'Ezequiel in Le Cahier des Etoiles.From 1930 to 1935 he identified himself as a literary editor for a collection of French classics known as Le Genie de la France, run by Rene Hilsum, the owner of Au Sans Pareil. In 1935 and 1936, Rene Glotz taught at the French Lycee of Brussels and in 1938 at the French Lycee in Tangiers.

In 1939, after two attempts to enlist, he was accepted into the Chasseurs a Pied ( Light Infantry).He was captured with his unit on June 5th at Armancourt in the Somme,and interned at Stalag 1b in Hohenstein from June 22 until his escape in November 1940. After making his way on on foot across Germany and France , he reported to the last operating post of the infantry at the line of demarcation. He then joined his wife in Morocco.He communicated with his wife in a code all their own; he was Fabrice and she was Clelia, characters drawn from the classics.

In March 1941, Rene Glotz returned to France and joined the Resistance Network Brutus. He rose to assistant to the Chief of the Region and was involved in parachutages,rescues and liaison work. In 1943, he was asked by General De Gaulle to help rescue the former Governor of Upper Volta who had been imprisoned for his anti-Nazi activities. In an account of the escape,Governor Edmond Louveau,, praised his rescuer as a "pure hero."His rescuer, whose nom de guerre was Rolland said he had been asked by DeGaulle to facilitate the escape, he had done it, and now he had to move. It was not necessary fot the governor to know who he was, he was doing the job he was assigned. It was only after the war, that Governor Louveau learned of the identify and the fate of his rescuer

On June 17th 1944, Rene Glotz was arrestedat a restaurant in Lyons with his cousin, the Regional Chief. He had compromising documents with him and after a short trip to the prison Montluc, he was taken with nine other Resistance members, also considered saboteurs , driven to a town 19 km from Lyons and handcuffed two by two, led to their death, shot twice in the head at close range and left to die.

Rene Glotz received the designation of "Mort pour la France" and a posthumous Medal of the Resistance for his bravery and sang-froid in the face of the enemy.

Et tout le soir, le livre referme, je les ai appelés, dans le silence, par leurs noms, Andre Chenneviere, Rene Glotz, Robert Deze, tous ces jeunes gens qui ont rencontre la mort a l'heure de la delivrance et dont les ombres vont s'enfoncer sans les brouillards de l'oubli si nous ne leur donnons, chaque jour une pensée de gratitude.

Georges Duhamel. Tribulations de l'Esperance ~ ~ ~ ~ Renee Payne