Jacques Rossi

Jacques Rossi (October 10 1909, Wrocław – June 30 2004, Paris), was a Polish-French writer and polyglot. Rossi was best known for his books on the gulag.

He was born as Franz Xaver Heyman and was the son of an architect Martin (Marcin) Heyman and Léontine Charlotte Goyet who was for a time governess in Kalisz. In 1962, in Poland, he changed name from Franciszek Ksawiery Heyman na Jacek Franciszek Rossi - perhaps in recognition of his real father's name. He was a member of the Communist Party of Poland as well as of the comintern. In 1937 he was called to Moscow and imprisoned in Soviet camps for about 20 years. In 1961 he returned to Warsaw with the help of his brother Piotr Heyman. A polyglot, he was a lecturer in the University of Warsaw "School of Foreign Languages" under the name Jacek Rossi. He lived in Warsaw till about 1980. In 1985 he traveled to France and was naturalized as French citizen.

As Jacques Rossi he wrote about his experiences of the gulag - "The Gulag handbook" which was originally written in Russian and was translated into French (1997), English (1987), Japanese (1996), Czech (1999), Italian (2006).

At the end of his life he recorded series of interviews which were subsequently published as "Jacques, le Français : pour mémoire du Goulag".

Biography

*Pike, D. W. "David Rousset and Jacques Rossi Two important onlookers on the European stage of 1936-1937", Guerres Mondiales et Conflits Contemporains, (190): 143-146, czerwiec 1998.
*Kauffer R., Rossi J., "Twenty-five years in the gulag: Interview with Jacques Rossi", Historia (614): 84-84, luty 1998.
*Chauvin, J. R. i Rossi, J., "Interview with Rossi, Jacques on his 24 years in the Gulag", Qunizane Litteraire, (611): 23-25, listopad 1 1992.

Bibliography

* Rossi, Jacques (Rossi, Jacek), Tableaux chronologiques et bref lexiqe d'historie de France. P. 2, Bref lexique et tableaux chronologiques d'historie de France / Jacek Rossi ; 1973, Uniwersytet Warszawski. Wydział Filologii Obcych, ISBN 0903868970.
*Rossi Jacek, La France et les activités des ses habitants vues par les auteurs français. Warszawa 1968 s. 231. Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wyższe Studium Językowe.
*Jacques Rossi, "The Gulag handbook: an encyclopedia dictionary of Soviet penitentiary institutions and terms related to the forced labor camps", New York, Paragon House, 1989, ISBN 1557780242
*Jacques Rossi and Sophie Benech, Qu'elle était belle cette utopie: chroniques du Goulag, illustrées par l'auteur, Paris: Cherche Midi, 2000, 234 strony, ISBN 2862747777 9782862747774
*Jacques Rossi and Michèle Sarde, "Jacques, le Français : pour mémoire du Goulag", Paris, Cherche midi, 2002. ISBN 2862749397 9782862749396
*Jacek Rossi, "Les Controverses continuent autour de la Revolution francaise", Mówią Wieki, Warszawa, marzec 1972, str. 19-24.
*Jacek Rossi, "Controverses autour de la Commune de Paris, Mówią Wieki, grudzień 1974, Warszawa, str. 6-11.

Links

*BBC Interview "Outlook" [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/001027_siberia.shtml 31 October 2000] - listen [http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/ram/rossi.ram] .
* [http://www.jacques-rossi-goulag.org/ "Association des Amis de Jacques Rossi" website]