Pierre Souvestre
{{Short description|French lawyer, journalist, writer and organizer of motor races}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox writer
|name = Pierre Souvestre
|image = Souvestre, Pierre (Le Miroir, 1914-03-08).jpg
|imagesize = 150px
|caption = by Henri Manuel,
from Le Miroir (fr),
8 March 1914
|birth_date = {{birth date|1874|6|1|df=y}}
|birth_place = Plomelin, Finistère
|death_date = {{death date and age|1914|2|26|1874|6|1|df=y}}
|death_place =
| occupation = Lawyer, journalist, writer, race organizer
| nationality = French
| period =
| movement =
| notableworks =
| influences =
| influenced =
}}
Pierre Souvestre ({{IPA|fr|pjɛʁ suvɛstʁ}}; 1 June 1874 – 26 February 1914) was a French lawyer, journalist, writer and organizer of motor races. He is mostly remembered today for his co-creation with Marcel Allain of the fictional arch-villain and master criminal Fantômas.
Early life
Career
He became a lawyer, then a journalist, and a businessman. He owned a garage in Liverpool from 1898, then a second in Paris from 1905. A delegate of the Automobile Club de France (fr), he organized motor races, contributed to the newspaper L'Auto (fr), and wrote technical books, including the 1907 book, A.C.F. History of the Automobile,{{Cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5495467j.r=histoire%20automobile|title = Histoire de l'automobile / Par Pierre Souvestre|year = 1907}} and the French-English Automobile Dictionary in 1910.
In 1909, already a published author, Souvestre co-wrote, with his friend and assistant Allain, their first novel, Le Rour. Investigating Magistrate Germain Fuselier, later to become a recurring character in the Fantômas series, appears in this first novel.
In February 1911, Allain and Souvestre began the Fantômas book series at the request of Joseph-Arthème Fayard (fr), a publisher, who wanted to create a new monthly pulp magazine. Allain and Souvestre also jointly wrote the spy series Naz-en-l'air. After his death, Allain continued the Fantômas saga alone.
Private life
Souvestre took in Marcel Allain when Allain was driven from his home by his father. Souvestre died of a congestion of the lungs.{{Cite web|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k597769r/f1.item.r=%22Pierre%20Souvestre%22|title=La Presse|date=March 1914}} Souvestre's former girlfriend, Henriette Kistler, married Marcel Allain on 27 September 1926. Kistler died in 1956.
Poetry
- Kidding (1894)
[[Conte (literature)|Conte]]
- Collage (1894)
- The Misfortunes of Madame Rambuad (1896)
Automobile publications
- Sporty silhouettes (1903)
- A.C.F. History of the Automobile (1907){{Cite book|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5495467j.r=histoire%20automobile|title = Histoire de l'automobile / Par Pierre Souvestre|year = 1907}}
- The car, how to use it, its maintenance (1908)
- French-English Automobile Dictionary (1910)
Other work by Allain and Souvestre
- Le Rour (1908)
The Fantômas books by Allain and Souvestre
;1911
- 1. Fantômas (1911; transl. 1915; retransl. 1986){{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27794|title = Fantômas}}
- 2. Juve contre Fantômas (1911; transl. 1916; retransl. 1987){{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30586|title = The Exploits of JuveBeing the Second of the Series of the "Fantômas" Detective Tales}}
- 3. Le Mort qui Tue (1911; transl. 1917){{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28333|title = Messengers of EvilBeing a Further Account of the Lures and Devices of Fantômas}}
- 4. L'Agent Secret (1911; transl. 1917){{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29029|title = A Nest of Spies}}
- 5. Un Roi Prisonnier de Fantômas (1911; transl. 1919){{Cite book|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/27789|title = A Royal Prisoner}}
- 6. Le Policier Apache (1911; transl. 1924)
- 7. Le Pendu de Londres (1911; transl. 1920)
- 8. La Fille de Fantômas (1911; transl. 2006) ({{ISBN|1932983562}})
- 9. Le Fiacre de Nuit (1911)
- 10. La Main Coupée (1911; transl. 1924)
;1912
- 11. L'Arrestation de Fantômas (1912)
- 13. La Livrée du Crime (1912)
- 14. La Mort de Juve (1912)
- 15. L'Evadée de Saint-Lazare (1912)
- 16. La Disparition de Fandor (1912)
- 17. Le Mariage de Fantômas (1912)
- 18. L'Assassin de Lady Beltham (1912)
- 19. La Guêpe Rouge (1912)
- 20. Les Souliers du Mort (1912)
- 21. Le Train Perdu (1912)
- 22. Les Amours d'un Prince (1912)
- 23. Le Bouquet Tragique (1912)
;1913
- 24. Le Jockey Masqué (1913)
- 25. Le Cercueil Vide (1913)
- 26. Le Faiseur de Reines (1913)
- 27. Le Cadavre Géant (1913)
- 28. Le Voleur d'Or (1913)
- 29. La Série Rouge (1913)
- 30. L'Hôtel du Crime (1913)
- 31. La Cravate de Chanvre (1913)
- 32. La Fin de Fantômas (1913)
The ''Naz-en-l'air'' books by Allain and Souvestre
;1912
- Naz-en-l'air (1912)
- Le Secret de Naz-en-l'air (1912)
- L'Ongle cassé (1912)
- Les Tueuses d'hommes (1912)
;1913
- Le Mystérieux Clubman (1913)
- Le Roi des flics (1913)
- Évadé de bagne (1913)
- Espions de l'air (1913)
- Crimes d'empereur (1913)
- Haine de bandit (1913)
- L'Échéance fatale (1913)
Theater works by Allain and Souvestre
- Gigolo, drama in five acts, Paris, Schaub-Barbré (1913), with Marcel Allain
- Naz-en-l'air, drama in five acts, Paris, Schaub-Barbré (1913), with Marcel Allain
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Gutenberg author | id=32910| name=Pierre Souvestre}}
- {{Internet Archive author |sname=Pierre Souvestre}}
- {{Librivox author |id=6316}}
{{Fantomas (pulp character)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Souvestre, Pierre}}
Category:People from Finistère
Category:19th-century French novelists
Category:20th-century French novelists
Category:French crime fiction writers
Category:Writers from Brittany
Category:French male novelists
Category:19th-century French male writers