Peguy, Charles

Péguy, Charles 

Born Jan. 7, 1873, in Orléans; died Sept. 5, 1914, near Villeroy, Seine-et-Marne. French poet and journalist.

Péguy joined the Socialist Party in 1894. From 1900 to 1914 he edited the journal Cahiers de la Quinzaine, whose contributors included J. Jaurès and R. Rolland. Péguy’s journalistic articles, such as “On the Socialist City” (1897) and “The Triumph of the Republic” (1900), were typical of “emotional socialism,” which condemned capitalism in the name of a patriarchal republic with a peasant handicraft base.

While sympathizing with the Paris Commune of 1871, Péguy attempted to reconcile democratic and patriotic principles with traditional Catholic religiosity; these views are found in the collection of articles Our Native Land (1905) and the narrative poems The Mystery of the Charity of Joan of Arc (1910) and Eve (1913). In time, the patriotism expressed in Péguy’s journalism acquired a nationalistic coloration, as in the pamphlet Our Young People (1910).

WORKS

Oeuvres complètes, vols. 1–20. Paris, 1916–55.

REFERENCES

Istoriia frantsuzskoi literatury, vol. 3. Moscow, 1959.
Rolland, R. Ch. Péguy, vols. 1–2. Paris, 1944. (Excerpt published in Russian translation in R. Rolland, Sobr. soch, vol. 14. Moscow, 1958.
Pages 635–705.) Perche, C. Essai sur Ch. Péguy, 2nd ed. [Paris, 1965.]

M. A. IAKHONTOVA