About
François Mauriac was a French writer born in Bordeaux in 1885. From a middle-class Catholic family, he studied literature in Bordeaux and then in Paris. His first collection of poems, Les Mains jointes, appeared in 1909. A prolific novelist, he explored the torments of the human soul through characters often torn between good and evil. He received the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française in 1925 for Le Désert de l'amour, was elected to the Académie française in 1933, and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1952. Committed, he supported the Resistance during World War II and took a stand against torture during the Algerian War. He died in 1970 in Paris.
* 1885-10-11 — † 1970-09-01
Major works
- Le Baiser au lépreux (1922)novel
- Le Désert de l'amour (1925)novel
- Thérèse Desqueyroux (1927)novel
- Le Nœud de vipères (1932)novel
- Asmodée (1938)play
Key milestones
- 1933Elected to the Académie française
- 1952Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1958Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour
Themes
Sin and graceRedemptionProvince and bourgeoisieTorments of the soulPolitical commitment
Sources: nobelprize.org · academie-francaise.fr · britannica.com