Henri Barbusse was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party.
15 Facts About Henri Barbusse
2.
The son of a French father and an English mother, Barbusse was born in Asnieres-sur-Seine, France in 1873.
3.
Barbusse first came to fame with the publication of his novel Le Feu in 1916, which was based on his experiences during World War I By this time, Barbusse had become a pacifist, and his writing demonstrated his growing hatred of militarism.
4.
Henri Barbusse's novel, Clarte, is about an office worker who, while serving in the army, begins to realize that the imperialist war is a crime.
5.
Henri Barbusse joined the French Communist Party in 1923 and later traveled back to the Soviet Union.
6.
Henri Barbusse characterized the birth of Soviet Russia as "the greatest and most beautiful phenomenon in world history".
7.
In 1925, Henri Barbusse published Chains, showing history as the unbroken chain of suffering of people and their struggle for freedom and justice.
8.
In 1927, Henri Barbusse participated in the Congress of Friends of the Soviet Union in Moscow.
9.
Henri Barbusse led the World Congress Against Imperialist War and headed the World Committee Against War and Fascism, founded in 1933.
10.
Henri Barbusse took part in the work of the International Youth Congress and the International Congress of Writers in Defense of Culture.
11.
Henri Barbusse was literary editor for the daily newspaper l'Humanite from 1926 to 1929.
12.
In 1934, Henri Barbusse sent Egon Kisch to Australia to represent the International Movement Against War and Fascism as part of his work for the Comintern.
13.
Henri Barbusse was an Esperantist, and was honorary president of the first congress of the Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda.
14.
Henri Barbusse's funeral drew 500,000 people and he is buried at the Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
15.
The parc Henri Barbusse was the site of the Chateau d'Issy.