Jean Cayrol
Jean Cayrol (French: [kɛʁɔl]; 6 June 1911 – 10 February 2005) was a French poet, publisher, and member of the Académie Goncourt born in Bordeaux. He is perhaps best known for writing the narration in Alain Resnais's 1956 documentary film, Night and Fog. He was a major contributor to the subversive, philosophical French publication Tel Quel.
Jean Cayrol
- Full name
- Jean Raphaël Marie Noël Cayrol.
- Born
- 1911. · Bordeaux.
- Died
- 2005. · Bordeaux.
- Nationality
- France.
- Occupation
- poet, publisher, screenwriter, writer, french resistance fighter, film director, editor and essayist.
- Honours
- Prix Renaudot, Prince Pierre Award and Grand prix national des Lettres.
- Languages
- French.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Jean Cayrol (French: [kɛʁɔl]; 6 June 1911 – 10 February 2005) was a French poet, publisher, and member of the Académie Goncourt born in Bordeaux. He is perhaps best known for writing the narration in Alain Resnais's 1956 documentary film, Night and Fog. He was a major contributor to the subversive, philosophical French publication Tel Quel.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Jean Cayrol. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
gnd · 16057896-6 · wikidata · Q699397 · wikipedia · Jean Cayrol
In this article
Novels
Novels
In 1941, during the Nazi occupation of France, Cayrol joined the French Resistance, but he was subsequently betrayed, arrested, and sent to the Gusen concentration camp in 1943. He was one of the youngest French inmates at that camp, and consequently was made to do some of the hardest work along with the construction of roads and railways. When Cayrol wanted to die by refusing any further food, his life was saved by Johann Gruber, the "Saint of Gusen." Gruber gave Cayrol some "Gruber soup" in the washroom of barrack No. 20, and intervened for Cayrol to get him transferred to an easier job. Cayrol thereafter worked at the final inspection of Steyr-Daimler-Puch at KL Gusen I (the "Georgenmuehle" command), where he was able to write literature during breaks. Between February 1944 and April 1945, Cayrol created a large volume of poetry at Gusen I. One of his poems from this era is the text for "Chant d'Espoir", which was set to music by a fellow Gusen I inmate, Remy Gillis, in 1944. Alerte aux ombres 1944–1945, a collection of Cayrol's Gusen texts, was published in 1997. The figure of Lazarus appears many times in Cayrol's work. Having escaped death himself, Cayrol was fascinated and inspired by the story of Lazarus who died, whom Jesus returned to life after being dead. Cayrol founded and edited for ten years (1956–66) the review Ecrire, published by Éditions du Seuil, who had recruited him as an editorial adviser in 1949.
Je vivrai l'amour des autres (1947). Originally published in two volumes: On vous parle and Les Premiers Jours. L'Espace d'une nuit (1954). All in a Night, trans. Gerard Hopkins (Faber and Faber, 1957) Les Corps étrangers (1959). Foreign Bodies, trans. Richard Howard (Putnam, 1960) Le Froid du soleil (1963) Midi minuit (1966) Je l'entends encore (1968) Histoire d'une prairie (1969) Histoire d'un désert (1972) Histoire de la mer (1973) Histoire de la forêt (1975) Histoire d'une maison (1976) Histoire du ciel (1979)
Poetry
Poetry
Poésie-journal I (1969) Poésie-journal II (1977) Poésie-journal III (1980)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1911
Jean Cayrol was born in 1911 at Bordeaux.
2005
Jean Cayrol died in 2005 at Bordeaux.
As screenwriter
Nuit et Brouillard (1956) Muriel (1963)
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q699397: Jean Cayrol
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Jean Cayrol”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Jean Cayrol éditeur : naissance et essor d’un catalogue littéraire aux Éditions du Seuil, « Les mots sont aussi des demeures », 2010
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2010
authority file
Awards and honours
1947: Prix Renaudot for Je vivrai l'amour des autres
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Cayrol, Jean. Alerte aux ombres 1944-1945. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1997.
- 2.Blom, Philipp. "Jean Cayrol (obituary)." Guardian Unlimited, April 27, 2005. Retrieved January 15, 2007.
- 3.Marie-Laure Basuyaux, "Jean Cayrol et la collection Ecrire: de l'écriture blanche à l'écriture verte", Fabula.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Jean Cayrol éditeur : naissance et essor d’un catalogue littéraire aux Éditions du Seuil, « Les mots sont aussi des demeures », 2010Crossref registry
Verifiedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 16057896-6, Colloque International Les Mots Aussi Sont des Demeures. Camps et Crise d'Identité dans l'Oeuvre de Jean Cayrol (2007 : Bordeaux).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,661 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Jean C. BaudetAuthor
- Jean CassouAuthor
- Jean CastaingAuthor
- Jean CauAuthor
- Jean ChapelainAuthor
- Jean CharbonneauAuthor
- Jean Charles Dominique de LacretelleAuthor
- Jean Charles Léonard de SismondiAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Jean Cayrol?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.