About
Anatole France, born François-Anatole Thibault, was a major French writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Son of a bookseller, he studied at the Collège Stanislas and then at the École des Chartes. He began as a Parnassian poet and journalist, then became a literary critic for Le Temps. Librarian of the Senate from 1876 to 1890, he achieved his first great success with Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (1881). Elected to the Académie française in 1896, he was actively involved in the Dreyfus Affair alongside Émile Zola. His work, marked by irony and humanism, earned him the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921.
* 1844-04-16 — † 1924-10-12
Major works
- Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (1881)novel
- Thaïs (1890)novel
- La Rôtisserie de la Reine Pédauque (1893)novel
- L'Île des Pingouins (1908)novel
- Les Dieux ont soif (1912)novel
Key milestones
- 1896Elected to the Académie française
- 1921Awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1922His works are placed on the Index by the Catholic Church
Themes
IronyHumanismSkepticismFrench RevolutionPolitical engagement
Sources: nobelprize.org · britannica.com · bnf.fr