- Les Deux Magots
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Les Deux Magots
The "Deux Magots" inside the caféLes Deux Magots (French pronunciation: [le dø maɡo]) is a famous[1] café in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés area of Paris, France. It once had a reputation as the rendezvous of the literary and intellectual élite of the city. It is now a popular tourist destination. Its historical reputation is derived from the patronage of Surrealist artists, intellectuals such as Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and young writers, such as Ernest Hemingway. Other patrons included Albert Camus and Pablo Picasso.
The Deux Magots literary prize has been awarded to a French novel every year since 1933.
Contents
Origin of the name
The name originally belonged to a fabric and novelty shop at nearby 23 Rue de Buci. The shop sold silk lingerie and took its name from a popular play of the moment (1800s) entitled Les Deux Magots de la Chine (Two Figurines from China.)[2] In 1873 the business transferred to its current location in the Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés. In 1884 the business changed to a café and liquoriste, keeping the name.
Auguste Boulay bought the business in 1914, when it was on the brink of bankruptcy, for 400,000 francs (anciens). The present manager, Catherine Mathivat, is his great-great-granddaughter.
See also
References in literature and popular culture
In 1972 Carlos the Jackal carried out a trademark grenade attack on the Deux Magots killing 2 and injuring 34.
In Literature:
1) Les Deux Magots appears in The Chariot Makers (by Steve Matchett), in which the author describes Les Deux Magots as: "the first café in the quarter to be blessed by the morning sun. Its clientele pay a healthy premium for drinking there, it’s only fitting they should be the first to catch the warmth of the new day."
2) The café figures prominently in Abha Dawesar's novel That Summer in Paris (2006).
3) The café is referenced in the 1955 novel, Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. The narrator claims,"I sat with uranists in the Deux Magots."
4) Mentioned in the 2011 novel, Tabloid City, by the author Pete Hamill.
5) Mentioned in the 2006 novel, Between the Bridge and the River, by the author Craig Ferguson.
6) It is mentioned in the Nobel Laurete Mario Vargas Llosa's novel The Bad Girl.
In Art:
1) 1959 figurative painting by Saul Leiter.
2) 1967 figurative painting by Jean-François Debord[3]
In Film:
1) The café is featured in the 1973 film The Mother and the Whore directed by Jean Eustache.
2) The café features in the 1959 film The Sign of Leo by Eric Rohmer.
3) Several scenes in the 1949 movie, "The Man on the Eiffel Tower" take place here.
Footnotes
- ^ Bidding goodbye to the Gauloises
- ^ Journal Notre 6ème n°237, November 2010, page 10
- ^ Jean-François Debord
External links
Categories:- Restaurants in Paris
- 6th arrondissement of Paris
- Bakery/café restaurants
- Simone de Beauvoir
- Cafés in Paris
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