Jean Cocteau

Cocteau

Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, writer, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Cocteau is best known for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929), and the films The Blood of a Poet (1930), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Beauty and the Beast (1946) and Orpheus (1949).

His circle of associates, friends included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Gertrude Stein, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, Ernst Jünger, Albert Gleizes, Igor Stravinsky, Marie Laurencin, María Félix, Édith Piaf, Panama Al Brown, Colette, Jean Genet, and Raymond Radiguet. (Wikipedia)

Modigliani
Modigliani’s portrait of Cocteau 1916

Syrian anti-Assad May Skaf actress buried in Dourdan, suburbs of Paris

The actress May Skaf, one of the first Syrian artists to take a stand against the regime of Bashar al-Assad, who died at the age of 49 last weekend in the suburbs of Paris, was buried Friday in Dourdan (Essonne) to the south West of Paris.

Five to six hundred people, including Syrian figures from the world of cinema and culture, attended the funeral Friday afternoon at the cemetery of the commune of Dourdan, where many flags of the Syrian opposition floated. The coffin of this famous artist, who had left her country after a brief detention in 2013, in Jordan, then in France where she lived with her son Jude al-Zoabi, was covered with the green-white-black flag with red stars. “It will be a temporary resting place (…) until we all enter our Syria, democratic, fair and free,” said Jude al-Zoabi a few days ago on Facebook.

“I’m sure May never imagined where her path would take her, she believed in her ideas and took the path that respects her principles, I do not know if she knew she would have to give up her artistic career and to his interests in Jordan, “he said in his eulogy.A whole woman”May has become a star because she refused the glory, she refused to make money and to work with people who exploit her,” he added. 

The actress was found dead in the night from Sunday to Monday at her home in Dourdan. His home was immediately sealed and an investigation opened, but the autopsy found a natural death, due to aneurysm, we learned from his relatives. 

May Skaf had been living in Dourdan since 2015, living in the city with his son, like several other Syrian refugees, according to Mayor Maryvonne Boquet.

Syria has been ravaged by war since 2011. More than 350,000 people have been killed since 2011 in this conflict, which has become more complex with the involvement of foreign countries and jihadist groups in a fragmented territory.

Source: Syrian anti-Assad May Skaf actress buried in Dourdan, suburbs of Paris

Saint-Merry asks, “Are you in Paris this summer?”

ARE YOU IN PARIS THIS SUMMER?

You will have some moments of freedom? You could…Find – at the easiest time for you – a young asylum seeker welcomed during the year by Welcome JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) time to chat, to walk … Because the days are long without French classes or other activities . And for you, it is the occasion of beautiful meetings.

For any information: Myriam  Seddik@jrsfrance.org  or 06 45 62 37 33Marie-Odile Barbier-Bouvet

Source: Are you in Paris this summer? – Saint-Merry

Jain