Modernist & 20Th Century Poets Codexery

Saint-John Perse

French poet-diplomat awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Last updated

Saint-John Perse

via Wikipedia: Saint-John Perse · see source

Alexis Leger, known as Saint-John Perse, was a French poet and diplomat awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature.[1][2] He served as Secretary-General of the French Foreign Office from 1932 to 1940.[3] His poetry often reflected his childhood in Guadeloupe and his fascination with nature.[4][5][6]

Ancien cimetière de Giens (Hyères) - Tombe Alexis Leger, Saint-John Perse, inscription
Ancien cimetière de Giens (Hyères) - Tombe Alexis Leger, Saint-John Perse, inscription. Image: Gnrc · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Life and work

His family returned to France in 1899 after racial tensions and fears of American annexation.[6] He published his first poetry collection, Éloges, in 1910, which expressed nostalgia for his Guadeloupe childhood.[5] In 1921, Prime Minister Aristide Briand recruited him as his assistant, and he later became chef de cabinet.[7][8] As Secretary-General, he advocated for League of Nations sanctions against Japan and opposed the Hoare-Laval Pact.[9][10][11]

34th Street (Saint-John Perse House)
34th Street (Saint-John Perse House). Image: Nvss132 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Alexis Leger, who later adopted the pseudonym Saint-John Perse, was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, on 31 May 1887, into a family where his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father were all solicitors, and his family owned both a coffee plantation called La Joséphine and a sugar plantation called Bois-Debout.[12][1] Between 1916 and 1921, he held the position of secretary at the French embassy in Peking, and during this period he composed the epic poem Anabase.[13][14] The poem Anabase came out in 1924, and from that point onward he used the pen name "Saint-John Perse" for all his publications.[15] After being dismissed from the Légion d'honneur and having his French citizenship revoked by the Vichy government in 1940, he went into exile in Washington, D.C., where he wrote the poems Exil, Vents, Pluies, Neiges, Amers, and Chronique.[16][17]

Ancien cimetière de Giens (Hyères) - Tombe Alexis Leger, Saint-John Perse, vue d'ensemble
Ancien cimetière de Giens (Hyères) - Tombe Alexis Leger, Saint-John Perse, vue d'ensemble. Image: Gnrc · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1960, and after the war he eventually returned to France, where he became known as le grand absent.[1][18]

Emplacement de la maison natale de Saint-John-Perse après sa démolition
Emplacement de la maison natale de Saint-John-Perse après sa démolition. Image: Enrevseluj · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

What the cited sources add

The Nobel Foundation's summary confirms the 1960 Nobel Prize was awarded for "the soaring flight and the evocative imagery of his poetry"[2]

Maison Saint-John Perse - Premier étage
Maison Saint-John Perse - Premier étage. Image: Aristoi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Maison Saint-John Perse - Façade
Maison Saint-John Perse - Façade. Image: Aristoi · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: During his lifetime, he wanted to make believe that Saint-Leger Leger was his real name.; The Nobel Prize in Literature 1961 nobelprize.org (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. The Nobel Prize in Literature 1961 nobelprize.org. facts only, no text reused. nobelprize.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Watt 1989, p. 467-468; Watt 1989, p. 467-468 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron 1953, p. 379; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Loichot 2007, p. 82; Loichot 2007, p. 82; Loichot 2007, p. 82; Loichot 2007, p. 82; Loichot 2007, p. 82 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowlie 1961, p. 255 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Fowlie 1961, p. 255 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17; Bastid-Bruguière 2014, p. 17 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Duroselle 2004, p. xxxviii; Duroselle 2004, p. xxxviii; Duroselle 2004, p. xxxviii; Duroselle 2004, p. xxxviii; Duroselle 2004, p. xxxviii (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Meltz, "Alexis Léger dit Saint-John Perse", Éditions Flammarion, 2008, p. 200 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Fuller 2022, p. 100; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3; Little 2001, p. 3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  16. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379; Cameron 1953, p. 379 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  17. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Little 2001, p. 3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Wikipedia, "Saint-John Perse" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Fowlie 1961, p. 255; Hunt, "Rambling on Saint Martin : a witnessing", March 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Saint-John Perse (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Spanish–American WarMetropolitan FranceOrnithologyAndré GideRobinson CrusoeMarcel ProustLondonJoseph Conrad

More in Modernist & 20Th Century Poets

Salvatore QuasimodoSasha ChornySergei YeseninSohrab SepehriSrečko KosovelStephen SpenderSully PrudhommeTomas TranströmerValery BryusovVelimir KhlebnikovVicente AleixandreVladimir Mayakovsky

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Saint-John Perse die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1975.

From the source: “Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet, writer and diplomat, awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the soaring flight and the ”

2. In which place was Saint-John Perse born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.

From the source: “Alexis Leger was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.”

3. In what year was Saint-John Perse born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1887.

From the source: “Alexis Leger (; 31 May 1887 – 20 September 1975), better known by his pseudonym Saint-John Perse (; also Saint-Leger Leger), was a French poet, writer and diplomat, awarded the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature "for the soaring flight and the ”

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →