Jacques Chardonne

Jacques Chardonne (born Jacques Boutelleau; 2 January 1884, in Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire, Charente – 29 May 1968, in La Frette-sur-Seine) is the pseudonym of French writer Jacques Boutelleau. He was a member of the so-called Groupe de Barbezieux.

Early life and career

Raised Protestant, his American Quaker mother was an heiress to the Haviland porcelain dynasty and his father was French. His brother-in-law was of the Delamain cognac dynasty. This informed his trilogy Les Destinées Sentimentales.^[1] He was a leader of the Hussards and held in high regard for the award-winning Claire.

World War II

He supported collaboration with the Vichy and in 1940 produced "Private Chronicle 1940", which favored the submission of Europe to Adolf Hitler.^[2] He was a member of the Groupe Collaboration, an initiative that encouraged close cultural ties between France and Germany.^[3] In October 1941, Chardonne, with seven other French writers including Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, Marcel Jouhandeau et Robert Brasillach, accepted an invitation from Joseph Goebbels to visit Germany for a Congress of European Writers in Weimar. In his diary during the trip, Chardonne described how he wanted to "make [his] body a fraternal bridge between Germany and France".^[4] After World War II he was denounced for Nazi collaboration^[5] and spent time in prison.^[6] In an article titled "Jacques Chardonne et Mein Kampf" the 'Frenchness' of his writing was also questioned.^[7]

Death and rehabilitation

He died in 1968 after efforts to restore his image. By the 1980s anti-totalitarian journalists like Raymond Aron began to reappraise collaborationist authors like Chardonne.^[8] In 1986 his award-winning Claire was made into a TV film^[9] and in 2001 Olivier Assayas adapted Les Destinées Sentimentales to film.^[10]

Awards

• 1932 Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, with Claire (Grasset)
• The Prix Jacques-Chardonne established in 1986 is named after him.

References