René Alleau

Alleau studied in Paris, obtaining a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Letters, and Diploma in Graduate Studies in Philosophy.{{cite book |last1=Lassalle |first1=Jean-Pierre |editor1-last=Richardson |editor1-first=Michael |editor2-last=Ades |editor2-first=Dawn |editor3-last=Fijalkowski |editor3-first=Krzysztof |editor4-last=Harris |editor4-first=Steven |editor5-last=Sebbag |editor5-first=Georges |title=The International Encyclopedia of Surrealism: Volume 2, Surrealists A-L |date=2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |pages=13-15 |chapter=René Alleau}} His thesis was supervised by Gaston Bachelard.{{cite web |last1=Warburg Institute Archive (WIA) |title=WIA_Collections/Yates/Correspondence/01/32 'Alleau, René to Yates, Frances 07/02/1978 |url=https://wi-calm.sas.ac.uk/calmview/ |access-date=27 March 2025}} Family circumstances following World War Two forced Alleau to switch to a career in engineering. Between 1948 and 1950 Alleau worked as an engineer in Douala, French Cameroon and French Equatorial Africa.{{cite book |last1=Bucherie |first1=Gilles |title=René Alleau et l'écriture philosophale |date=2022 |publisher=Selena Éditions |location=Saint-Gervais |pages=11-12 |language=French |chapter=Le Voyage}} Alleau retired from engineering in 1962 at the age 45 in order to focus on his studies of traditional science and hermetic philosophy.

From 1970 to 1976, Alleau was the director of the Bibliotheca hermetica collection for the French publishing house Éditions Denoël.Lassalle, Jean-Pierre. (2019) René Alleau' in M. Richardson; D. Ades; K. Fijalkowski; S. Harris; G. Sebbag (eds.) The International Encyclopedia of Surrealism: Volume 2, Surrealists A-L. London: Bloomsbury, pp.13-15. (Accessed: 14 January 2025) Decitre (2022) René Alleau et l'écriture philosophale. Available at: https://www.decitre.fr/livres/rene-alleau-et-l-ecriture-philosophale-9791094886311.html#resume (Accessed: 28 March 2025). The aim of this project was to republish ancient works of esotericism and make them available to purchase. Alleau contributed to the Planète magazine of Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier (authors of The Morning of the Magicians). In his later life he wrote online articles for Symbole associated with Frédérick Tristan and which focused heavily on the works of René Guénon.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Alleau was a close associate of André Breton, a prominent personality in Surrealism. René Alleau's article in the first issue of Surréalisme Même in 1961 was the occasion of the rapprochement between Breton and the young Frédérick Tristan, who was to remain a faithful friend until his death.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Alleau was a freemason, belonging to the Grande Loge de France. As a member of the Thebah lodge in Paris, he was associated with the Guénonian-Traditionalist School wing of the Loge, rather than the Anglo-Saxon element.

• Aspects de l'Alchimie traditionnelle, Paris, Éditions de Minuit, 1953, 240 p.
• De la nature des symboles, Paris, Flammarion, 1958, 126 p.(fr)[http://www.persee.fr/doc/ccmed_0007-9731_1959_num_2_5_1085_t1_0098_0000_2 Persée, Compte rendu in Cahiers de Civilisation Médiévale, Année 1959 2-5 pp. 98-99]
• Les Sociétés secrètes, leurs origines et leur destin, Paris, Éditions Retz, 1963, 256 p.
• Histoire des sciences occultes (with Hubert Larcher and Gwen Le Scouézec), Lausanne, Éditions Rencontre, 1965, 112 p.
• Encyclopédie de la divination, Paris, Tchou, 1964, 551 p.
• Guide de Versailles mystérieux, Paris, Tchou, 1966, 287 p.
• Histoire des grandes constructions, Levallois-Perret, Cercle du bibliophile, 1966, 112 p.
• Guide de Fontainebleau mystérieux, Paris, Tchou, 1967, 287 p.
• Hitler et les sociétés secrètes, enquête sur les sources occultes du nazisme, Paris, Cercle du nouveau livre d'histoire, 1969, 367 p.
• Énigmes et symboles du Mont-Saint-Michel, suivi d'une étude historique de Charles de Cossé-Brissac sur l'Ordre de Saint-Michel, Paris, Julliard, 1970, 311 p.
• Guide de la France mystérieuse, Paris, Presses pocket, 1975, 251 p.
• La Science des symboles. Contribution à l'étude des principes et des méthodes de la symbolique, Paris, Payot, 1976, 292 p.(fr)[http://www.persee.fr/doc/rhr_0035-1423_1978_num_193_2_6668 Persée, Compte rendu, A. Faivre, Revue de l'histoire des religions, Année 1978 193-2 pp. 213-218]
• René Guénon et l'actualité de la pensée traditionnelle, (dir.) with Marina Scriabine, Actes du colloque international de Cerisy-la-Salle, 13-20 juillet 1973, Paris, Arche de Toth, 1981.
• Alchimie, préface de Michel Bounan, Paris, Allia, 2008, 98 p.
• Various articles for Encyclopædia Universalis: Alchimie, Histoire des cartes à jouer, Divination, Démonologie, Magie, Occultisme, Sociétés secrètes, Tradition, Théorie des Éléments, etc.

• Jorge Camacho
• Jean Robin
• Michel Bertrand

{{reflist}}

• [http://data.bnf.fr/11888490/rene_alleau/ René Alleau at data.bnf.fr]
• [http://www.leseditionsdeminuit.eu/f/index.php?sp=livAut&auteur_id=1469 Fiche René Alleau, éditions de Minuit]
• [http://www.revue3emillenaire.com/blog/category/auteur-a/alleau-rene/ Articles en ligne de René Alleau], sur le site de la revue 3e Millénaire
• [http://www.juliusevola.net/excerpts/Hitler_and_the_Secret_Societies.html Julius Evola's review of "Hitler and the Secret Societies"]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alleau, Rene}}

Category:20th-century French non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century French non-fiction writers

Category:1917 births

Category:2013 deaths

Category:French Freemasons

Category:Traditionalist School

Category:20th-century French male writers