EXTRACT OF ERIC'S ALMANAC : Éric de Haulleville

“If only lovers of poetry would take the trouble to enter in,
the key is on the door¹ .”

Baron Eric de Haulleville(Tervueren (Tervuren), province of Brabant, 13.09.1900- Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Alpes-Maritimes, 20.03.1941)* Belgian poet.

13 september 257/109

Eric de Haulleville is descended from a Belgian family of Noble lineage. His father, Alphonse de Haulleville, was curator of the Museum of the Belgian Congo of Tervueren (in 1960 changed to: the Royal Museum for Central Africa). Eric de Haulleville studied law at the University of Brussels where he struck up a friendship with the poet Odilon-Jean Périer. In 1920 Périer introduced him to Franz Hellens who was responsible for the review and Le Disque vert editions. In 1923, Eric de Haulleville published his first “poetic book”: Dénouement, illustrated by an O.-J. Périer’s calligramme. In 1928, Eric de Haulleville settled in Paris and was for a time an art dealer at the Gallery Pierre. Very beloved by his friends, he was in contact with Jean Cocteau and the dadaists, Christian Bérard, Max Jacob, Georges Neveux, etc.

In 1930, Eric de Hauleville published Le Genre épique, curiously subtitled « autobiography ». He included a dedication to Odilon-Jean Périer who died in 1928 at the young age of 27.

“It was in an already far-off country already, a land where we shall no longer go
Do you remember, the birds having no wings, the air being so light
The new-born life was popping up among the morning clovers
Desires, plans, friendship, dreams
Were engraved onto the copper-colored sky
You are dead Jean Périer
Your fixed silent voice has taken the serious and haughty sound of Eternity
Men have not known you
We walk in silence on the Earth where we are not.”

In 1934, Eric de Hauleville published Le Voyage aux îles Galapagos (Les Cahiers du Sud). That same year, he came to Bruxelles again and married Rose Nys. He died too soon in 1941 at Saint-Paul-de-Vence, losing several unpublished draft works due to his exodus caused by the Second World War. (These works called: La fourmi métaphysique, Le testament d’un condamné à mort - were mentioned as “forthcoming” in Le Genre épique).

Unjustly forgotten, Eric de Hauleville’s works were republished in new edition in 1993. (Whereas O.-J. Périer’works have been re-released by several editors since 1989).

Documents : Éric de Hauleville, "Lettre sur le suicide", Le disque vert, 13 nov.  1924.

Bibliogr. (latest ed.) : Haulleville, Éric de, Dénoûment, Livre poétique - Le genre épique, Autobiographie - Le voyage aux îles Galapagos - L'anneau des années - L'abîme - In memoriam, Le Cri, Édition, Bruxelles, coll. "Les Évadés de l'Oubli", 1993. Cover ill. with a Odilon-Jean Périer’s calligramme. 506 p. (épuisé)

*Article partly compiled from Laffont Bompiani, Le nouveau dictionnaire des auteurs de tous les temps et de tous les pays, R. Laffont, Bouquins, 1994, vol. II. 1. Dénoûement, p. 5.

With my grateful thanks to Olivia de Haulleville for all the informations she has provided me. Photos kindly communicated and reproduced by courtesy of Olivia de Haulleville. All rights reserved.
Email : olivia.solemate@gmail.com .

Other birthdays : Éric Bonheur (Fort-de-France, Martinique, 13.09.1962)*, guitar player and composer from Martinique .../... Eric Juaneda (13.09.1968)*, photographer. (*http://eric.juaneda.com). Erik Edward (Erik) Pape (Roosendaal en Nispen, 13.09.1942)*, Dutchman artist… (*Cf. P.M.J. Jacobs, Beeldend Nederland : biographisch handboek, Tilburg, Uitgeveriij drs P.M.J. Jacobs, 1993)

  See over the french version of this article

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maj 3.12.09