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VercorsFrench writer and illustrator.
Date of Birth: 26.02.1902
Country:  France |
Content:
Jean Marcel Bruller: A Life in Art and Resistance
Early Life and Artistic BeginningsBorn in Paris on February 26, 1902, Jean Marcel Bruller was the son of publisher Ludovic Bruller and Ernestine Bourbon. After graduating with an engineering degree from École Brequet in 1923, he pursued a career as an illustrator and engraver. From 1921 until the outbreak of World War II, he produced numerous albums of drawings and prints on current events, collaborating with magazines such as "Le Rire" and "Paris-Flirt."
The Resistance Years
In 1939, Bruller was conscripted into the reserve battalion, but was demobilized after the armistice in 1940. During the German occupation of France, he wrote the novella "The Silence of the Sea" (1941), dedicated to the late poet Saint-Pol-Roux. The work was intended for publication in Pierre de Lescure's underground journal "La Pensée Libre," but a Gestapo raid prevented its release.
In response, Bruller and Lescure founded Les Éditions de Minuit (The Midnight Press) in 1942, a clandestine publishing house that became a voice of the French Resistance. Bruller designed the publishing house's iconic logo. "The Silence of the Sea," printed in 250 copies, became both the press's first publication and Bruller's first work under the pseudonym "Vercors."
Post-War Legacy
After the liberation of France, Les Éditions de Minuit continued to operate, publishing 27 books between 1942 and 1944, including Vercors' "The Star-Spangled Banner" and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's "The War Pilot." Vercors remained the publisher's editor-in-chief until 1948.
A pacifist, Vercors remained active in public life after the war, serving on the National and World Peace Councils. He resigned from the chairmanship of the National Committee of French Writers in 1956 in protest against the suppression of the Hungarian uprising. In 1957, he published the essay "Why I Resign" and withdrew from public life, though he continued to criticize the wars in Algeria and Vietnam.
Jean Marcel Bruller, known as Vercors, passed away in Paris on June 10, 1991. His work as an artist and a voice of the Resistance continues to inspire generations.
