Saint-John Perse (first Saint-Léger Léger, pseudonyms of Alexis Léger) (31 May 1887–20 September 1975) was a French poet and diplomat who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry."
Alexis Léger was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. His grand-grandfather, a solicitor, had lived in Guadeloupe since 1815. His grandfather was also a solicitor, his father was a lawyer and member o...
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Saint-John Perse (first Saint-Léger Léger, pseudonyms of Alexis Léger) (31 May 1887–20 September 1975) was a French poet and diplomat who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 "for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry."
Alexis Léger was born in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. His grand-grandfather, a solicitor, had lived in Guadeloupe since 1815. His grandfather was also a solicitor, his father was a lawyer and member of the City Council. The Léger family was in charge of two family-owned plantations, one of coffee (La Joséphine) and the other of sugar (Bois-Debout).
In 1897, Hégésippe Légitimus, the first native Guadeloupan elected president of the Guadeloupe General Council took office with a vindictive agenda towards colonists. The Leger family returned to metropolitan France in 1899 and settled in Pau. The young Alexis felt like an expatriate and spent much of his time playing sports, such as hiking, fencing, horseback riding and sailing.
In 1904 he met...
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