Gérard Aumont

Born: 13 September 1902 in Gabes, Tunisia.

Died: 27 December 1975 in Tunis.

Gérard Aumont was born Gérard Marie Albert Aumont in Gabes, Tunisia on 13 September 1902 to Alfred Charles Jean and Eva Alphonsine (née Mauger) Aumont. He married Paulette Cazaentre in Marseilles on 10 August 1932; they had no children.

He was only 20 when he met Crowley in Tunisia, first appearing in Crowley’s diary on 23 August 1923: “Aumont called—he had already translated The Ghouls. Very intelligent youth—gets my ideas at once—picks the important aphorisms—but is terribly voluble.” Crowley’s diaries show that Aumont was an occasional lover. He translated The Diary of a Drug Fiend into French around 1924.

During 1925–26 Crowley settled north of Tunis in La Marsya, and Aumont became his secretary. Crowley had recently issued his “Mediterranean Manifesto” and was then mounting his “World Teacher” campaign to promote himself as the alternative to Annie Besant's designated “World Teacher,” Jiddu Krishnamurti. Unlike most of Crowley's supporters, Aumont could write; he was a journalist by profession. He produced both pro-Crowley and anti-Krishnamurti propaganda in this period.

Several essays credited to Aumont survive in typescript (catalog citations are to the Yorke Collection, Warburg Institute):

“Aleister Crowley: A Brief Introduction to His Works (NS 18/37/e).”

“The Secret Conference” (NS 94/24, published in The Heart of the Master and Other Papers (1992), pp. 1–10).

“The Method of Thelema” (NS 94/4), published in The Revival of Magick and Other Essays (1998), pp. 176-83.

“The Three Schools of Magick” (OS F1/6 and NS 94/5), published in Magick without Tears (1954), pp. 28–45; (1973), pp. 64–90.

“Le Nouveau Messie” (OS F1/7 and NS 94/25).

“The Black 'Messiah” (NS 91/12).

Another contemporary essay may also be by Aumont; “The Master Therion: A Biographical Note” (NS 18/13, published in The Equinox III(10) (1986), pp. 13–18, and in The Heart of the Master and Other Papers (1992), pp. 11–21). Its title and voice suggest that Crowley was not the author.

Aumont died in Tunis, age 73, on 27 December 1975.