Jean Genet

**Jean Genet** ( in French) (19 December 1910 – 15 April 1986), was a French writer and later political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond (homeless person) and petty criminal. Later in life, Genet wrote novels, plays, poems, and essays, including _Querelle_, _The Thief's Journal_, _Our Lady of the Flowers_, _The Balcony_, _The Blacks_ and _The Maids_.

## Life

Genet's mother was a young prostitute who put him up for adoption. After committing small crimes as a child, he was sent to the youth prison of Mettray. In the 1940s, he was a vagabond, petty thief and prostitute across Europe.

In the mid-1940s, Genet met Jean Cocteau. Cocteau helped Genet to publish his novel. By 1949, when liberated from prison through petitions of many persons including Jean Conteau and Jean-Paul Sartre, Genet had completed five novels, three plays and numerous poems. His books were banned in the United States.

Between 1955 and 1961 Genet wrote three more plays. In 1964, Genet entered a period of depression and attempted suicide. In the late 1960s, Genet became politically active. Jean Genet was gay (homosexual).

Genet developed throat cancer and died on 15 April 1986 in Paris.

### Novels

The first novel, _Our Lady of the Flowers_ (1944), is an about the life in prison. His novels _The Miracle of the Rose_ (1946) and _The Thief's Journal_ (1949), describe his experiences in youth prison and as a male prostitute. The novel _Querelle de Brest_ (1947) is about murder and the novel _Funeral Rites_ (1949) is about love and betrayal. His last novel, _A Prisoner of Love_ published in (1986), is different from his other books.

### Plays

Genet's plays were considered to be "Theater of the Absurd" plays. These plays had ideas which were similar to the ideas in existentialist ways of thinking. His plays include _The Maids_ (1949); _The Balcony_ (1956); _The Screens_ (1963); _The Blacks_, which was staged in New York in the Off-Broadway theater.

### Film

In 1950, Genet directed a film called Un Chant d'Amour, which showed fantasies about prison life.

### Novels and autobiography

- _Notre Dame des Fleurs_ (1944)
- _Miracle de la Rose_ (1946)
- _Pompes Funèbres_ (1947)
- _Querelle de Brest_ (1947)
- _The Thief's Journal_ (1949)
- _Un Captif Amoureux_ (1986)

### Theatre

- _Haute surveillance_ (1947) - not published until 1949
- _Les Bonnes_ (1947)
- _Le Balcon_ (1956)
- _Les Nègres_ (1959)
- _Les Paravents_ (1961)
- _Le Bagne_ (1994), édition posthume
- _Théâtre Complet_   (2002) - Bibliothèque de la Pléiade "édition présentée, établie et annonté par Michel Corvin et Albert Dichy"

### Poetry

- _Le Condamné à mort_ (1942)

### Correspondence

- _Lettres à Roger Blin_ (1966)
- _Lettres à Olga et Marc Barbezat_ (1988)
- _Lettres au petit Franz_ (2000)

### Complete works

Jean Genet, _Œuvres completes_ (Paris: Gallimard, 1952-)

- Volume 1: _Saint Genet: comédien et martyr_ (by J.-P. Sartre)
- Volume 2: _Notre-Dame des fleurs - Le condamné à mort - Miracle de la rose - Un chant d’amour_
- Volume 3: _Pompes funèbres - Le pêcheur du Suquet - Querelle de Brest_
- Volume 4: _L’étrange mot d’ ... - Ce qui est resté d’un Rembrandt déchiré en petits carrés - Le balcon - Les bonnes - Haute surveillance -Lettres à Roger Blin - Comment jouer ’Les bonnes’ - Comment jouer ’Le balcon’_
- Volume 5: _Le funambule - Le secret de Rembrandt - L’atelier d’Alberto Giacometti - Les nègres - Les paravents - L’enfant criminel_
- Volume 6: _L’ennemi déclaré: textes et entretiens_

## Further reading

- Barber, Stephen (2004) _Jean Genet_ Reaktion Books, London,  - biography and critique;
- Driver, Tom Faw (1966) _Jean Genet_ Columbia University Press, New York;
- White, Edmund  (1993) _Jean Genet_ Chatto and Windus, London,  - a biography;

## Other websites

- Genet, Jean (1910–1986)  From _glbtq: Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, & Queer Culture_
- Prisoner of Hate: Jean Genet and Palestine A review of Edmund White's biography of Genet by Martin Kramer
- The Ontological Priority of Violence: On Several Really Smart Things About Violence in Jean Genet's Work  By William Haver
- Patrice Bougon (Président of S.A.L.G : **S**ociété des  **A**mis  et **L**ecteurs de **G**enet): academic research,  bibliography, papers, news, symposium

## Infobox (biography)

- **name**: Jean Genet
- **image**: JeanGenet-HansKoechler1983-cropped.jpg
- **birth date**: 19 December 1910
- **birth place**: Paris, France
- **death date**: 15 April 1986 (aged 75)
- **death place**: Paris, France