René Blum - Biography

René Blum (13 March 1878 – 30 April 1943), choreographer, was the founder of the Ballet de l'Opéra at Monte Carlo.

Career

Blum was born in Paris. He became director of plays and operettas at Monte Carlo in 1924. In 1931, Blum was hired to form the Ballet of the Opera of Monte-Carlo by Prince Louis II of Monaco.

Deportation and death

René Blum was arrested on 12 December 1941 in his Parisian home, among the first Jews to be arrested in Paris by the French Police. He was held in the Beaune-la-Rolande camp, then in the Drancy internment camp. On 23 September 1942 he was shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he was later killed by the Nazis.

Notes and references

• Sorley Walker, Kathrine. 1982. De Basil's Ballets Russes. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-147510-4; New York: Atheneum. ISBN 068911365X.

Articles

• NY Times, 20 November 1937