Moving logbook of Paul ÉLUARD sailing towards Greece.

Paul ÉLUARD (1895.1952)

Autograph manuscript.

One page in-12°

Without place or date. [At sea, May 1946]

“In a circle, in front of me, the lights of Piraeus. Tomorrow I get up early. FINALLY ! »

Moving fragment from the logbook of Paul Éluard sailing towards Greece.

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May 16. 3 hours. I return to the extraordinary office of the broker with old men living in slow motion. They forgot to make me sign a commitment by which I must strictly comply with the life of the boat, austere, disciplined.

4h.  I'm embarking. The boat (Liberty Ship) will leave at 6 a.m. At 5 a.m. tea, meal. One of the officers: Mathurin. I had gotten used to Italy and I feel very uncomfortable leaving it. I was shown so much love there and made everything so easy. I am the only passenger. There are a dozen cadets aged 18 to 20.

May 17. 7 hours. Black and white steaming stromboli. At its feet, two villages between water and fire. The captain has been traveling for almost 40 years. At noon we will arrive at the Strait of Messina. The sea is very calm, the sky cloudy. Noon . Messina. White butterflies. We take little birds on board. Etna. Cat.

20 hours. The silver evening. Swallows- Sharks.

May 18. We will arrive tomorrow around noon. Very good weather. A tiny bird comes to my lap.

5 p.m. The bay of Kalamata is in sight. Snow on a summit. In the evening, the captain endlessly tests his revolver on the bridge. The sky is yellow. The black Sea.

May 19. 6 a.m.: bare islands, high snowy mountains. Extraordinary seconds. Very low clouds. Bright sun.

10am. I slept for an hour. When I wake up, I realize that we have been filming. The islands are now on the port side. We will tour the peninsula and will certainly not arrive today.

11am. We are still filming. English explanations. I no longer know where we are or where we are going. Well, we'll see.

12 p.m. I was shown the map. It is quite simply Crete that we leave behind us.

5 p.m. Sun, but on the sea without a wrinkle like frost, lots of mist. Small islands everywhere. We walk very slowly. The captain admits to me that he was in the Resistance. He hates the Germans and despises the southern Italians.

22.45. I get up to look out the window. In a circle, in front of me, the lights of Piraeus. Tomorrow I get up early. FINALLY !

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From the post-war period, Éluard expressed himself as an ambassador for French culture and political causes. Undertaking a series of trips to Czechoslovakia, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece (during the civil war) Éluard tirelessly engaged in activist activity, giving lecture tours and readings. It was in this context that Paul Éluard visited Athens and Thessaloniki in May 1946, notably taking part in a ceremony at the French Institute in Athens on May 27, 1946.

Éluard's relationship with Greece and the partisan movement had already been highlighted, among others, with the poem “Athena”, written on December 9, 1944, following the outbreak of the bloody events in Athens.