René Kalisky archives

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Archives et Musée de la Littérature

Postal address:: Bibliothèque Royale (3è étage), Keizerlaan 4 / Boulevard de l’Empereur 4, 1000 Bruxelles

Scope and content:: This fonds – for which supplementary donations are to be expected in the future – was not yet fully described at the time of writing. Apart from documentation (i.a. copies of the magazine La Centrale, from 1956-1957, 1962, 1965) and the published oeuvre of Kalisky, we firstly note manuscripts of some of his plays (e.g. Sur les ruines de Carthage). The fonds also contains correspondence from Kalisky, dating approximately from the period 1968-1980. Finally we also mention a number of works (i.a. visual novels) with text by René Kalisky and illustrations by his sister Sarah.

Administrative/biographical history:: René Kalisky (1936-1981) was a journalist and playwright. After obtaining a degree in journalism (1960) he worked for the Presses académiques européennes, as deputy editor for La Centrale (organ of the Centrale d’Œuvres sociales juives) and as a freelancer for i.a. Phare-Dimanche, Patriote Illustré, La Presse and Le Devoir. Kalisky is however best known for his career as a playwright, although his pieces were initially rejected by Belgian theatres. He wrote i.a. Trotsky, etc. (1969), Skandalon (1970), Jim le Téméraire (1972), Le Pique-Nique de Claretta (1973) and the unpublished Charles le Téméraire ou l’autopsie d’un prince and Falsch (made into a film by the Dardenne brothers in 1987). He also wrote the novel L’impossible Royaume (1979) as well as two historical works on the Arab world. In Sionisme et Dispersion (1974) he elaborated on his views regarding Jewish identity, Zionism and the Diaspora. (Y.-W. Delzenne & J. Houyoux (dir.), Le nouveau dictionnaire des belges, Brussel, Le Cri, 1998, vol. 2, p. 25; M. Quaghebeur, “Kalisky, René”, in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Brussel, De Boeck, 2002, pp. 189-190.)

Subject terms:: Correspondence; Literature; Literature--Novels, poetry, and plays; Literature--Writers, poets, and playwrights; Manuscripts; Professions; Professions--Journalists; Theatre

Finding aids:: At the time of writing there is no complete inventory. The fonds is partially described in the online catalogue of the AML.