39 Facts About Boris Vian

Boris Vian was an important influence on the French jazz scene.

Boris Vian served as liaison for Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington and Miles Davis in Paris, wrote for several French jazz-reviews and published numerous articles dealing with jazz both in the United States and in France.

Boris Vian was born in 1920 into an upper middle-class family in the wealthy Parisian suburb of Ville d'Avray.

Boris Vian's parents were Paul Vian, a young rentier, and Yvonne Ravenez, amateur pianist and harpist.

From his father, Boris Vian inherited a distrust of the church and the military, as well as a love of the bohemian life.

Boris Vian was the second of four children: the others were Lelio, Alain and Ninon.

The name "Boris Vian" was chosen by Yvonne, an avid classical music lover, after seeing a performance of Mussorgsky's opera Boris Vian Godunov.

From 1932 to 1937, Boris Vian studied at Lycee Hoche in Versailles.

In 1937, Boris Vian graduated from Lycee Hoche, passing baccalaureats in mathematics, philosophy, Latin, Greek and German.

Boris Vian subsequently enrolled at Lycee Condorcet, Paris, where he studied special mathematics until 1939.

Boris Vian became fully immersed in the French jazz scene: for example, in 1939 he helped organize Duke Ellington's second concert in France.

When WWII started, Boris Vian was not accepted into the army due to poor health.

Boris Vian entered Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures in Paris and subsequently moved to Angouleme when the school moved there because of the war.

In 1940, Boris Vian met Michelle Leglise, who became his wife in 1941.

Boris Vian taught Vian English and introduced him to translations of American literature.

Also in 1940, Boris Vian met Jacques Loustalot, who became a recurring character in several early novels and short stories as "The Colonel".

In 1944, Boris Vian completed Vercoquin et le plancton, a novel inspired partly by surprise-parties of his youth and partly by his job at the AFNOR.

Raymond Queneau and Jean Rostand helped Boris Vian to publish this work at Editions Gallimard in 1947, along with several works Boris Vian completed in 1946.

Frustrated by the commercial failure of his works, Boris Vian vowed he could write a best-seller and wrote the hard-boiled novel I Spit on Your Graves in only 15 days.

The book was ascribed to a fictitious American writer, Vernon Sullivan, with Boris Vian credited as translator.

Boris Vian persuaded his publisher friend Jean d'Halluin to publish the novel in 1947.

Boris Vian wrote three more Vernon Sullivan novels from 1947 to 1949.

Ironically, Sartre and Michelle Boris Vian commenced a relationship that would eventually destroy Boris Vian's marriage.

Boris Vian became a regular contributor to jazz-related magazines, and played trumpet at Le Tabou.

Boris Vian continued his literary career by writing Vernon Sullivan novels, and published poetry collections: Barnum's Digest and Cantilenes en gelee.

Boris Vian started writing plays, the first of which, L'Equarrissage pour tous, was staged the year it was written, 1950.

Boris Vian separated from his wife, and in 1950 he met Ursula Kubler, a Swiss dancer; the two started an affair, and in 1951 Boris Vian divorced Michelle.

Boris Vian concentrated on a new field, song-writing and performing, and continued writing poetry.

Boris Vian's songs were successful; in 1954 he embarked on his first tour as singer-songwriter.

Boris Vian wrote the first French rock and roll songs with his friend Henri Salvador, who sang them under the nickname Henry Cording.

Boris Vian wrote "Java Pour Petula" for Petula Clark's first concert performances in France.

Still in 1955, Boris Vian decided to perform some of his songs on stage himself.

Boris Vian had been unhappy about the fact that French singer Marcel Mouloudji, who had interpreted "Le Deserteur" on stage the year before, had not accepted the original lyrics because he thought that they would lead to the song being banned.

The record of Boris Vian's songs performed by himself was not successful in France until ten years after his death.

Boris Vian's life was endangered in 1956 by a pulmonary edema, but he survived and continued working with the same intensity as before.

In 1957, Boris Vian completed another play: Les Batisseurs d'empire, which was only published and staged in 1959.

In 1958, Boris Vian worked on the opera Fiesta with Darius Milhaud, and a collection of his essays, En avant la zizique.

Boris Vian had already fought with the producers over their interpretation of his work, and he publicly denounced the film, stating that he wished to have his name removed from the credits.

Boris Vian is still viewed by many as the emblematic figure of Saint Germain des Pres as it existed during the postwar decade, when this district was the centre of artistic and intellectual life in Paris.