Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers facts for kids

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers (born October 22, 1939 – died December 6, 2013) was a French writer and poet. He was born in Versailles, France. He wrote many books of poetry and was involved in various cultural and social groups throughout his life.

About Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers went to high school at Collège Albert de Mun. He also attended Michel Bouts' École du Gai Savoir. This school used a special way of teaching called "active learning." Later, he went to the Lycée of Meaux, which is now called Lycée Henri Moissan.

In 1956, he joined a "classes préparatoires aux grandes écoles." This was a two-year course. It helped students get into special French schools called "grandes écoles." He studied at Paris' Lycée Henri-IV.

After finishing his engineering degree from ENSICA in 1962, he worked for twenty years. He was an executive in factories and for companies that ran public services. Later, he became a manager at Bossard Consultants. There, he helped develop ideas about how people work together in groups. In 1992, he started his own company. It helped businesses with training and learning programs. His company was based in Boulogne-Billancourt.

He started writing in 1954. A poet named Jehan Despert encouraged him. Despert published some of Desthuilliers' work. He also helped him get a writing spot in the newspaper Figaro.

His Work with Cultural Groups

Since 1959, Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers worked with many cultural groups.

• From 1962 to 1974, he was involved with the youth club in Chelles. He worked with people like playwright Michel Heim.
• From 1978 to 1983, he worked with ACILECE. This was a group that helped teachers with books and publishing. It was started by the writer Maurice Fombeure.
• Since 1983, he helped create the association La Jointée. This group publishes a literary magazine called Jointure. He started it with Jacques Arnold and other poets. He was also the president and treasurer for many years.
• Since 2004, he helped manage the Aire-Falguière theatre.

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers was also a member of the Société des poètes français. This is the French Poets Society.

His Community Involvement

Besides his writing and professional work, he was active in his community.

• From 2002 to 2008, he was a neighborhood councilor. He served in the town of Boulogne-Billancourt, where he lived.
• He represented the alumni of ENSICA. He helped combine two engineering schools, SUPAERO and ENSICA. They formed the Institut supérieur de l'aéronautique et de l'espace (ISAE) in 2007. He also helped combine their alumni groups into the "Amicale ISAE." He helped manage this new group.

His Published Works

Poetry Books

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers published several poetry books:

• Le cristal opaque (1974): This book had drawings by Tardivo. It is now available online for free.
• L'arbre parole (1979): This book had drawings by Odile Damon-Leclerc. It is also available online for free.
• Le sculpteur d'eaux (1987): This book won the Jacques Normand Award. This award came from the Society of Men of Letters of France.
• La vigne adamantine (1999)
• L'opéra des tarots dorés: Parts of this book were published in Soif de mots in 2000.

Contributions to Magazines

He often wrote for many literary magazines, including:

• Jehan Despert's Les cahiers de l'Île de France
• La revue de l'ACILECE
• Jointure
• Saraswati
• Phréatique
• Envols
• Les cahiers de l'Alba

Poems in Collections

His poems also appeared in collections with other poets:

• Poètes de Paris et de l'Île de France (1957)
• Perspectives Spirituelles (1987)
• Jointhologie, invitation au voyage (1990)
• Eros en Poésie (2002)

Introductions to Books

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers wrote introductions (called prefaces) for other authors' books. A preface is like a special note at the beginning of a book.

• He wrote the preface for Michel Bouts' book Sang Breton. He also wrote a detailed story about the author's life.
• He wrote the preface for Joseph Ouaknine's book about birds, Savez-vous parler cui-cui ?
• He wrote a postface (a note at the end of a book) for Francine Caron's book Parcs et lunaparks de Paris.
• He wrote the preface for Christine Guilloux's book of poems, Passages.
• He wrote the preface for Patricia Laranco's poetry book, Lointitude.
• He wrote the preface and an index of words for Michel Martin de Villemer's book, Morgeline pour ma veuve.

Essays and Articles

He also wrote essays and articles:

• Comment lit-on Rimbaud, quand on a dix-sept ans ? (How do you read Arthur Rimbaud when you are seventeen?): This was in a special issue of Les cahiers de l'Alba in 2005.
• Triangulation de la perception : le biface et l'os de seiche: This was in Plastir magazine in 2009.

Other Literary Activities

Jean-Pierre Desthuilliers was also involved in other literary activities:

• He directed a literary collection called Les oeuvres jointes.
• He created and led writing workshops. He also organized poetry performances.
• He helped produce a CD-rom about the artist Henri Landier.