René Blum (impresario)
René Blum | |
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| Born | René Blum 13 March 1878 Paris,France |
| Died | September 1942(aged 64) |
| Occupation(s) | Opera and balletimpresario |
| Known for | Founder of theBallet de l'OpéraatMonte Carlo |
| Relatives | Léon Blum(brother) |
| Awards | Croix de Guerre |
René Blum(13 March 1878 – September 1942) was aFrench Jewishtheatricalimpresario.He was the founder of theBallet de l'OpéraatMonte Carloand was the younger brother of theSocialistPrime Minister of France,Léon Blum.[1]A Jew, he was interned in various camps from 1941 until he was murdered by theNazisat theAuschwitz concentration campin late September 1942. While at the camps, he was known for keeping up the spirits of his fellow prisoners with tales of his life in the arts.[2]
Biography
[edit]Blum was born in Paris.
At the turn of the 20th century he was an editor at the Parisian literary journalGil Blasand a popular theatre critic.[2]He became a friend ofMarcel Proust,and it was on his advice that Proust turned toBernard Grassetto publishDu côté de chez Swann.[3]
DuringWorld War I,Blum served in theBattle of the Somme.He saved threatened artwork fromAmiens Cathedraland earned the FrenchCroix de Guerre.[2][3]
Founder of Ballet of Monte-Carlo
[edit]He became director of plays and operettas at Monte Carlo in 1924,[3]whereSergei Diaghilev'sBallets Russeswas based.[2]In 1931, Blum was hired byLouis II, Prince of Monaco,to create a ballet company that would continue the work and legacy of the late Diaghilev (who had died in 1929).[2]In 1932, with the help of financier Serge Denham, Blum andColonel W. de Basilformed theBallets Russes de Monte-Carlo.
Blum and de Basil fell out in 1934, and their Ballets Russes partnership dissolved.[2]Blum kept ballet alive in Monte Carlo. In short order, he hired choreographerBronislava Nijinska.After Nijinska left, Blum hiredMichel Fokine.In 1937, Blum and former Ballets Russes choreographerLéonide Massineacquired financing fromFleischmann's Yeastheir Julius Fleischmann, Jr.'s World Art, Inc. to create a new ballet company.[4]In 1938, their new company was allowed to regain the nameBallet Russe de Monte-Carlo(although the company fled for theUnited Statesin 1939, and was thereafter mostly based inNew York City).[2]
Deportation and death
[edit]In the summer of 1940, after the German occupation of Paris, Blum returned to France to be with his family.[2]He was arrested on 12 December 1941 in his Parisian home, among the first Jews to be arrested in Paris by the French police. He was held in theBeaune-la-Rolande internment camp,then in theDrancy internment camp.On 23 September 1942 he was shipped to theAuschwitz concentration camp.[5][6]He was murdered by the Nazis at age 64 in late September 1942.[2]
References
[edit]- ^Judith Chazin-Bennahum,René Blum and the Ballets Russes: In Search of a Lost Life.New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
- ^abcdefghiHomans, Jennifer."René Blum: Life of a Dance Master,"New York Times(8 July 2011).
- ^abcSorley Walker, Kathrine. 1982.De Basil's Ballets Russes.London: Hutchinson.ISBN0-09-147510-4;New York: Atheneum.ISBN0-689-11365-X,p. 3
- ^"Blum Ballet Sold to Company Here,"New York Times(20 Nov. 1937).
- ^Gilbert, Martin(2002).The Routledge Atlas of the Holocaust.Psychology Press.p. 10.ISBN978-0-415-28145-4.
- ^The Trial of Adolf Eichmann, Session 32(Part 5 of 5),Georges Wellers testimony at the trial ofEichmann.
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