Eugène Lemercier
Birth nameEugène Emmanuel Lemercier
Born7 November 1886
Paris, France
Died6 April 1915(1915-04-06) (aged 28)
Les Éparges
Allegiance France
Service/branchFrench Army
Years of service1906, 1914-1915
RelationsHarriet Osborne O'Hagan

Eugène Lemercier (7 November 1886 – 6 April 1915) was a French artist and soldier in World War I. His letters to his mother are a first-hand account of the war, and are preserved in the National Library of Ireland.[1] He is believed to be the subject of Wallace Stevens' poem "The Death of a Soldier."[2]

Early life and artistic career

Eugène Emmanuel Lemercier was born in Paris on 7 November 1886. He was the son of Marguerite O’Hagan and Eugène-Augustin Lemercier. His grandmother was the Irish portrait artist Harriet Osborne O'Hagan, and his mother was also an artist. His father died before Lemercier was born. Lemercier entered the École des Beaux-Arts at age fifteen. He left the École in 1906 to join the army to complete his military service. Lemercier won a number of government prizes for his paintings between 1906 and 1914, for pieces such as La Contemplation (Study for 'Contemplation'), which is held by the National Gallery of Ireland.[3] He began a new work, when he was drafted into the army after the outbreak of World War I.[1][4]

Military career and writing

Lemercier's military service began in 1906 when he joined the 106th Regiment of infantry in Chalons-sur-Marne. As Lemercier was enrolled in higher education, his service was just one year. After his drafting back into the army in August 1914, he wrote to his mother almost every day from 4 August 1914 until 6 April 1915. He also wrote to his grandmother, and to a circle of friends. During September and October, Lemercier was in what he called "the zone of the horrors", during which time he received no correspondence and he wrote in his diary. His writings are held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI), as a first-hand testimony of the war.[1] He disappeared, presumed dead, during the Battle of Les Éparges in April 1915.[5]

The collection in the NLI consists of 263 letters and postcards, two journals and photographs, as well as letters from his mother about his correspondence and artworks.[5] The letters were published as Lettres d'un soldat : août 1914-avril 1915.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Leoutre, Marie. "Witness of the Great War: Eugène Lemercier (1886-1915)". National Library of Ireland. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  2. ↑ Longenbach, James (1991). Wallace Stevens: The Plain Sense of Things. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 70. ISBN 9780195361421.
  3. ↑ "Study for 'Contemplation'". National Gallery of Ireland. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  4. ↑ "Eugène Emmanuel Lemercier (1886 - 1915)". Galerie Saint Georges. Archived from the original on 29 July 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Lemercier Papers". Irish Archive Resources. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. ↑ Dolamore, Susan M. (1997). French Autobiographical Writing 1900-1950: An Annotated Bibliography. London: Grant & Cutler Ltd. p. 241. ISBN 9780729303965.
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