René Victor Pilhes (1 July 1934 – 6 February 2021) was a French writer and publicist.

Pilhes began working as an advertising executive at Air France then at Publicis as Creative Director and Executive Board Member, before devoting himself entirely to literature where he views society as a moralist. He was also a director of TF1. He was married on 19 December 1959 to Nicole Ingrand, with whom he has three children: Nathalie, Laurent, Maria. His best known work is The Curse.

René Jean Laurent Pilhes (pronounced "Pills") came from old families of the Ariège. His great-uncle Victor Pilhes was a deputy in the Second Republic, and he has added that name to his own since his first novel. It is in this region that he grew up, at Seix; mountains and villages of Ariège punctuate many of his novels. An illegitimate child, he was raised by his maternal grandmother. Illegitimacy is also the subject of his first novel, Rhubarb. He attended college at Saint-Girons, high school in Toulouse and then at Lycée Buffon in Paris, achieving a bachelor's degree. In June 1955 he was sent to Algeria where after his classes he became a midshipman and lieutenant. He stayed there until September 1957 and left marked by the experience.

Debut novelist: author publicity

On his return from Algeria, he began working for Air France and three-eight as a commercial agent and politically committed. He campaigned for the CGT, Mendes-France supports and adheres to the PSU. With Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, he founded the Alumni Association of Algeria.

He married, and his career evolved: in the early 1960s was still a copywriter at Air France, then at Dorland and Gray before becoming a copywriter at Publicis. He kept his distance from politics and increasingly felt his need to write, especially after the death of his maternal grandmother. His first novel, Rhubarb, appeared in 1965 and was awarded the Prix Médicis. Originally titled The Bastard, his narrator, Urban Gorenfan / Aubain Minville, relates the quest for identity of a young man not recognized by his father, who seeks to know how the child would have been if he had been legitimate. The facts are invented even though the context of history could be likened to an autobiography, Pilhes transforms it into a baroque novel with extraordinary adventures. "Take the high ground, do not fear what dictates the imagination, take care of the balance between reality and fiction, these are my constant concerns as a novelist."

In 1969, he published his second novel, The Loum, the climbing of whose phallic peak haunts the author's later writings. In this audacious novel with its salacious passages, His Excellency the Lord began climbing, with his old mother, this huge rocky spur that points to the sky in a singular struggle. This book is also presented as a psychoanalytic epic. René Victor Pilhes says of it: "The Loum is the story of a terrible battle between mother and son. [...] Is: I will, once and for all, demonstrate to you that I am much more powerful than my father and all the men you admired in your life." The book has been the subject of a public lecture in Geneva and is included in the anthology of erotic literature by Jean-Jacques Pauvert. ...

Source: Article "René Victor Pilhes" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

René-Victor Pilhes, né le 1er juillet 1934 à Paris et mort le 6 février 2021 à Paris, est un écrivain français et ancien publicitaire.

Pilhes a commencé à travailler comme publicitaire à Air France puis à Publicis où il exerça le poste de directeur de la création, membre du directoire, avant de se consacrer entièrement à la littérature où il pose sur la société le regard d'un moraliste. Son œuvre la plus connue est L'Imprécateur (prix Femina 1974).

René, Jean, Laurent Pilhes (prononcer «Pille») est issu d’anciennes familles ariégeoises; son arrière-grand-oncle Victor Pilhes fut d’ailleurs député sous la Seconde République, il ajoute son prénom au sien dès son premier roman. C’est dans cette région qu’il grandit, à Seix; les montagnes et les villages ariégeois ponctuent nombre de ses romans.

Enfant illégitime, il est élevé par sa grand-mère maternelle. La bâtardise est d’ailleurs le thème de son premier roman, La Rhubarbe.

Il poursuit des études au collège à Saint-Girons, au lycée à Toulouse puis au lycée Buffon de Paris et parvient jusqu’au baccalauréat.

En juin 1955, il est envoyé en Algérie où après ses classes il devient aspirant puis sous-lieutenant. Il y reste jusqu’en septembre 1957 et sort marqué par cette expérience.

À son retour d'Algérie, il commence à travailler à Air France aux trois-huit comme agent commercial et s’engage politiquement. Il milite à la CGT, dont il devient secrétaire de la section d'Invalides, soutient Mendès-France puis adhère au Parti socialiste unifié (PSU). Avec Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, il fonde l’Association des anciens d’Algérie.

Il se marie, sa carrière évolue: au début des années 1960, il est rédacteur publicitaire toujours chez Air France, puis chez Dorland et Grey avant de devenir concepteur-rédacteur chez Publicis. Il prend de la distance avec la politique et son besoin d’écrire se fait de plus en plus ressentir, notamment après la mort de sa grand-mère maternelle.

Son premier roman, La Rhubarbe, (initialement intitulé Le Bâtard, parait en 1965 et est salué par le Prix Médicis. Son narrateur, Urbain Gorenfan / Aubain Minville, y relate la quête d’identité d’un jeune homme non reconnu par son père, qui cherche à connaître l’enfance qui aurait été la sienne s’il avait été légitimé. Les faits sont inventés. Même si l’histoire pourrait a priori s’apparenter à une autobiographie, Pilhes la transforme en un roman baroque aux péripéties extraordinaires. «Prendre de la hauteur, ne pas craindre ce que dicte l’imagination, soigner l’équilibre entre la réalité et sa fiction, tels sont mes soucis constants de romancier.» ...

Source: Article "René-Victor Pilhes" de Wikipédia en français, soumis à la licence CC-BY-SA 3.0.