Malraux, André, 1901-1976

French writer, government official, archaeologist, hero of antifascist resistence in Spanish Civil War and World War II. Writer of fictional and non-fictional works including "Condition humaine", "Tentation de l'Occident" and "Noyers de l'Altenbourg". Minister of Information, 1945-1946, Minister of State responsible for culture, 1959-1969.

From the description of Memoirs. ca. 1966. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 221087314

Author, adventurer, and statesman, André Malraux (1901-1976) led a diverse life right up until his death. Born in Paris in 1901, Malraux was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother. During his childhood, he had Tourette’s Syndrome, resulting in motor and vocal tics.

At the age of 21, Malraux left for Cambodia to undertake an exploratory expedition into the Cambodian jungle. He was subsequently arrested by French colonial authorities after having removed bas-reliefs from one of the temples he discovered. During the 1930s, Malraux was active in the anti-Fascist Popular Front in France. At the beginning of the Second World War, Malraux joined the French Army. He was captured in 1940 but escaped and later joined the French Resistance. After the war, General Charles de Gaulle appointed Malraux as his Minister for Information (1945-1946). During this post-war period, Malraux also worked on the first of his many books on art. Malraux became a Minister of State in De Gaulle’s 1958-1959 government and France’s first Minister of Cultural Affairs from 1959 to 1969.

Malraux died near Paris in November 1976.

Jimmy Kewanwytewa was the Museum of Northern Arizona’s custodian from 1930-196?, as well as a well-known Kachina carver and singer.

From the guide to the André Malraux collection, circa 1957, (The Museum of Northern Arizona)

Born on January 10, 1910 in Lyon, the French conductor and composer, Jean Martinon entered the Lyon and Paris conservatoires to study the violin. At Lyon, his teacher was Maurice Foundray and at the Paris Conservatory, he studied violin technique with Jules Boucherit. While at the Paris conservatory, Martinon took composition with Albert Roussel and Vincent d’Indy. After completing the composition courses, he studied conducting with Charles Munch and Désormière. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory in 1928, winning a premier prix.

Martinon’s familiarity with conducting started in France, followed by various appointments in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. In 1946, he embarked on a conducting career directing the Concerts du Conservatoire in Paris and the Bordeaux Symphony. The successful debut with the LPO led to his appointment as associate conductor of the orchestra in 1947. From 1947-1950 Martinon directed the Radio Eireann orchestra, Dublin and in 1951, he returned to Paris to conduct the Concerts Lamoureux until 1957. From 1957-1959, Martinon conducted the Israel Philharmonic. His appointment as the next conductor of the Düsseldorf Symphony occurred in 1959. Martinon was in Düsseldorf until 1963 when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra selected him as their music director, a position he held until 1968. During that same year, he returned to France to direct the French National Radio Orchestra and served as the principal conductor of the Hague Residentie–Orkest from 1974 until shortly before his death in 1976.

Martinon’s extensive experience as a composer led to his approach to conducting. The Symphoniette pour orchestre á cordes, piano, harpe et timbales, op. 16, from 1935, is one of three first attempts at composition. After enlisting in the war, Martinon’s imprisonment in a German camp, Stalag IX A, resulted in several new compositions, Psaume 136, le Chant des Captifs, Musique d’Exil, Sonatina No.3, Sonatina No. 4 for wind instruments, and various choral works. In 1946, the city of Paris awarded a prize to his composition le Chant des Captifs. After the war, other notable compositions include Symphonie no. 3 (Irlandaise), the Concerto no. 2 pour violin et orchestre, op. 5, dedicated to Szeryng, and the Concerto pour cello et orchestre, op. 52, composed for Pierre Fournier. For the stage Martinon composed two works, the ballet Ambohimanga ou la Cité Bleue and in 1949 the opera Hécube with a libretto by Serge Moreux. Symphony no.4 Altitudes was the outcome of a commission from the Chicago Symphony to commemorate its 75th anniversary.

Martinon had recently taken on a position at the Paris Conservatory to teach conducting when he died from a serious illness on March 1, 1976.

From the guide to the Jean Martinon papers, 1923-1994, (Music Library)