Boris Vian facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Boris Vian
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Vian in 1948
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| Born | 10 March 1920 Ville-d'Avray, Hauts-de-Seine, France |
| Died | 23 June 1959 (aged 39) Paris, France |
| Pen name | Vernon Sullivan, Bison Ravi, Baron Visi, Brisavion |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet, playwright, journalist, engineer, musician, songwriter, singer |
| Alma mater | École Centrale Paris |
| Notable works | L'Écume des jours J'irai cracher sur vos tombes L'Automne à Pékin L'Herbe rouge L'Arrache-cœur |
| Spouses | Michelle Léglise (divorced) Ursula Kübler |
Boris Vian (born March 10, 1920 – died June 23, 1959) was a talented French person who did many things. He is mostly known for his novels. He wrote some books under the fake name Vernon Sullivan. These books were unusual stories about crime.
Vian also wrote other stories using his real name. These books had a very unique writing style. He often made up words and used clever wordplay. The plots were often dream-like or surreal. His novel Froth on the Daydream (L'Écume des jours) is his most famous work. It is one of the few that has been translated into English.
Boris Vian was also very important in the French jazz music scene. He helped famous jazz musicians like Duke Ellington when they visited Paris. He wrote for jazz magazines and published many articles about jazz music. His own music and songs were popular during his lifetime. One of his most famous songs was the anti-war song "Le Déserteur" (The Deserter).
Contents
About Boris Vian
His Early Life
Boris Vian was born in 1920. His family lived in a rich suburb of Paris called Ville d'Avray. His father, Paul Vian, was a man who lived off his investments. His mother, Yvonne Ravenez, loved music and played the piano and harp. Boris was the second of four children. His siblings were Lélio, Alain, and Ninon. The family lived in a villa called Les Fauvettes. Boris's mother chose his name after seeing an opera called Boris Godunov.
When Boris was 12, he became sick with Rheumatic fever. This made his parents very protective of him. He later wrote about this in some of his novels.
School and Teenage Years
From 1932 to 1937, Vian went to school at Lycée Hoche in Versailles. In 1936, Boris and his two brothers started to organize "surprise-parties." These gatherings later inspired his early novels.
In 1936, Vian also became very interested in jazz music. The next year, he started playing the trumpet. He joined the Hot Club de France, a famous jazz club.
In 1937, Vian finished high school. He passed exams in mathematics, philosophy, Latin, Greek, and German. He then went to Lycée Condorcet in Paris to study advanced mathematics. Vian became very involved in the French jazz scene. For example, in 1939, he helped organize Duke Ellington's second concert in France. When World War II started, Vian could not join the army because of his health. He went to École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris. The school later moved to Angoulême because of the war, and Vian moved with it.
In 1940, Vian met Michelle Léglise. They got married in 1941. Michelle taught Vian English. She also showed him American books that had been translated into French. In 1942, Vian and his brothers joined a jazz orchestra. The same year, Vian graduated from École Centrale with a degree in metallurgy. His son, Patrick, was born that year.
His Career Begins
After Vian graduated, he and Michelle moved to Paris. In 1942, he became an engineer at the French Association for Standardisation. By this time, he was a very good jazz trumpeter. In 1943, he wrote his first novel, Trouble dans les andains. His writing career officially began in 1943 when a poem he wrote was published. He signed the poem "Bison Ravi," which was an anagram of his name. In the same year, Vian's father died.
In 1944, Vian finished Vercoquin et le plancton. This novel was partly inspired by the surprise parties he had as a teenager. It also made fun of his job at AFNOR. Famous writers Raymond Queneau and Jean Rostand helped Vian publish this book in 1947. They also helped him publish other works he wrote in 1946. These included his first important novels, L'Écume des jours and L'automne à Pékin (Autumn in Peking). L'Écume des jours is a sad love story where objects in the world react to the characters' feelings. It is now seen as Vian's best work. However, when it was first published, it did not get much attention. L'automne à Pékin also had a love story but was more complex. It also did not sell well.
Vian was disappointed that his books were not selling. He decided he could write a best-seller. So, he wrote the detective-style novel I Spit on Your Graves in just 15 days. He pretended the book was written by a made-up American writer named Vernon Sullivan. Vian was listed as the translator. He convinced his friend Jean d'Halluin, a publisher, to release the novel in 1947. People eventually found out it was a trick, but the book became a best-seller that year. Vian wrote three more Vernon Sullivan novels between 1947 and 1949.
In 1946, Vian's life changed a lot. He and Michelle hosted popular parties. At one of these parties, he met famous writers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Albert Camus. He became a regular part of their literary group. He also started publishing articles in the magazine Les Temps modernes. Vian especially admired Sartre and even included him as a character in L'Écume des jours.
Even though his writing became more important, Vian never stopped being involved in jazz. He wrote regularly for jazz magazines. He also played the trumpet at a club called Le Tabou. His money situation got better, and he left his job at AFNOR. Vian also started his own choir.
Later Years and Music
In 1948, Vian's daughter, Carole, was born. He kept writing Vernon Sullivan novels. He also published collections of poetry. Vian started writing plays, and his first play was performed in 1950. The same year, his third major novel, L'Herbe rouge (The Red Grass), was published. This was a darker story about a man who built a giant machine to help him understand his own mind. Like his earlier books, it did not sell well. Vian's money problems got worse, and he had to start translating English books and articles to earn money. Vian separated from his wife. In 1950, he met Ursula Kübler, a dancer from Switzerland. They started a relationship, and in 1951, Vian divorced Michelle. Ursula and Boris got married in 1954.
Vian's last novel, L'Arrache-cœur (The Heartsnatcher), was published in 1953. It also sold poorly. After this, Vian mostly stopped writing fiction. The only new book he released after 1953 was a changed version of L'automne à Pékin in 1956. He focused on writing and performing songs. His songs became successful. In 1954, he went on his first tour as a singer-songwriter. By 1955, Vian was working in many different areas. He wrote songs, operas, movie scripts, and more plays. His first album, Chansons possibles et impossibles (Possible and Impossible Songs), was recorded in 1955. He also wrote some of the first French rock and roll songs with his friend Henri Salvador.
In 1955, Vian decided to sing some of his own songs on stage. He was not happy that another French singer, Marcel Mouloudji, had changed the lyrics of his song "Le Deserteur" (The Deserter). Mouloudji thought the original lyrics might get the song banned. Vian agreed to change one part, but the song was still banned from TV and radio until 1967. The album of Vian singing his own songs did not become popular in France until ten years after he died.
In 1956, Vian had a serious health problem called a pulmonary edema, but he recovered. He kept working with the same energy. In 1957, Vian finished another play called Les Bâtisseurs d'empire (The Empire Builders). This play was published and performed in 1959. In 1958, Vian worked on an opera called Fiesta. A collection of his essays was also published that year.
His Death
On the morning of June 23, 1959, Boris Vian went to a movie theater. He was there to see the film version of his book I will Spit on Your Graves. He had disagreed with the filmmakers about how they made the movie. He had even said publicly that he wanted his name removed from the movie credits. A few minutes after the film started, he collapsed in his seat. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital.
His Lasting Impact
During his lifetime, only the novels Boris Vian published under the name Vernon Sullivan were successful. The books he published under his real name, which he felt were his true literary works, did not sell well. This was true even though famous writers of the time supported them.
However, almost immediately after his death, his books like L'Écume des jours, and then L'automne à Pékin, L'Arrache-cœur, and L'Herbe rouge, started to become well-known in France. Young people in the 1960s and 1970s especially liked them.
As a songwriter, Vian had mixed success. When he decided to sing his own songs, he only reached a small audience. The public was not convinced he was a good singer. But the generation of May 1968 in France loved his songs, especially because they were bold and rebellious.
As a songwriter, Vian inspired Serge Gainsbourg, another famous French musician. Gainsbourg said that hearing Vian sing made him want to try writing interesting songs himself. Boris Vian was also one of the first critics to support Gainsbourg's music in a newspaper in 1957.
Over the years, Boris Vian's works have become modern classics. They are often celebrated and studied in schools. Many people still see Vian as a symbol of Saint Germain des Prés. This was a neighborhood in Paris that was a center for art and thinking after World War II.
Selected Music Albums
- Nouveau code de la route 1955 (1955)
- Chansons possibles et impossibles (1956)
See also
In Spanish: Boris Vian para niños
- Boris Vian
- The Vian family
- Existentialism
- Pataphysics
- Zazou
- Amour de poche (1957)
Video
- Les frères Vian "Sheikh of Araby" on Archives Ina
Images for kids
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Boris Vian in 1948
