Pierre Aubéry, b. 1920
Pierre Louis Henri Aubéry was born on August 8, 1920 in Mt-St-Aignan, Seine Maritime, France. Aubéry began his education in France where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Lycée du Havre in 1940. In 1944 he received his Licence-ès-Lettres from Toulouse University in both English and French Literature. Aubéry received M.A.s in French Literature and Political Science in 1953 from Duke University and a Doctorat de l'Université in French Literature of the 20th century in 1955. Aubéry taught 20th century French Literature in the Department of Modern Languages and Literature at the University at Buffalo from 1962 until he retired in 1985. As a researcher, Aubéry spent much of his career studying the social significance of French literature of the 19th and 20th century eras. He was the foremost authority on the writings of the anarchist, Mécislas Golberg, a Polish ex-patriot writing in Paris at the turn of the century. In 1965 Aubéry planned to complete a monograph documenting Golberg's contributions to the literary world. Early on, he published a few "key chapters in specialized periodicals in the hope of getting some expert advice, critique and biographical information" (Aubéry, 1965 letter) for the publication. His plan was to publish "a limited number of chapters each covering one facet of Golberg's works" (Aubéry, 1965 letter). The monograph, Mécislas Golberg: anarchiste et décadent, 1868-1907: biographie intellectuelle, suivie de fragments inedits de son journal was finally published in 1978.
Mécislas Golberg, 1868-1907
Mécislas Golberg began his life as a Russian Jew born in Poland on October of 1868. Golberg began his early education in 1883 at College de Plock in Poland. Here Golberg began attending lectures on Shakespeare, Greek and Latin, the Romantics and authors of the 18th century. Later that same year he ventured west to further his education and political agenda at the University of Geneva. There he studied Literature, Philosophy and Natural Sciences with such eminent professors as Édouard Rod and Jung. Golberg received both his Bachelor of Medical Sciences and his Bachelor of Social Science in 1891. After graduating, Golberg left Geneva for Paris, where he would meet many of the eras great thinkers such as Pablo Picasso and Guillaume Appollinaire. In 1894, Golberg co-founded the anarchist literary publication, Le Courrier Social Illustrée, which allowed him to voice his views across Europe. Because of this he often found himself in trouble with the police. Mécislas Golberg died on December 28th 1907 after becoming well-known as a man of words and letters through his many publications.