Abel Hermant (3 February 1862 – 29 September 1950) was a French novelist, playwright, essayist and writer, and member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

Life and career

Hermant was born in Paris, the son of architect Achille Hermant (1823-1903). His half-brother was the architect Jacques Hermant. He entered the highly selective

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

in 1880, where he was a friend and classmate of

René Doumic René Doumic (7 March 1860, in Paris – 2 December 1937), French critic and man of letters, was born in Paris, and after a distinguished career at the École Normale began to teach rhetoric at the Collège Stanislas de Paris. Life Doumic attend ...

and

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

. He published his first volume of verse in 1883, ''The Contempt''. After several youthful novels, he moved to ironic analysis of the popular mores of the

Belle Époque The Belle Époque () or La Belle Époque () was a period of French and European history that began after the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 and continued until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Occurring during the era of the Fr ...

and achieved popular success. His first semi-autobiographical novel, ''Monsieur Rabosson'' of 1884, established his reputation as a satirical social observer. Its follow-up ''Le Cavalier Miserey'' of 1887, scandalised France for its depiction of the military at a time the French Republic, surrounded by monarchies, was preparing to take revenge (la Revanche) on the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

. One of key characters is a royal prince who is accused of anti-republican behaviour by the Radical-Socialist government of the day, and demoted as colonel of the light cavalry regiment wherefrom the main character, a weak young man, goes AWOL with his captain's wife. The colonel de Vermandois is possibly based loosely on the life of Prince de Joinville. Between 1901 and 1937 Hermant embarked on a series of 20 linked novels with the general title ''Memoirs to Serve for a History of Society'', but his contributions to literature included many popular plays, drama criticism for ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

'' and '' Gil Blas'', and a series of grammarian articles for ''Le Temps'' under the name "Lancelot" defending the purity of the French language. By 1899 Hermant was well-connected in society; for instance he was the guest of Anna de Noailles at

Évian-les-Bains Évian-les-Bains (), or simply Évian (, , or ), is a Communes of France, commune in Eastern France, by the border with Switzerland. It is located in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. A high-m ...

, where he became friends with

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

. After a number of tries Hermant was elected to the

on 30 June 1927. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Hermant's contributions to Jean Luchaire's pro-Nazi evening daily newspaper ''Les Nouveaux Temps'', beginning in 1940, his membership in Groupe Collaboration, his open support of the

Vichy regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

, and his criticisms of the French Army, marked him as a collaborator. At over 80 years of age, he was sentenced to life in prison on 15 December 1945. Hermant achieved the negative distinction of being one of the four "immortals" removed from the Académie française after

for collaboration with Germany. Hermant and Abel Bonnard were expelled outright, in disgrace;

Charles Maurras Charles-Marie-Photius Maurras (; ; 20 April 1868 – 16 November 1952) was a French author, politician, poet and critic. He was an organiser and principal philosopher of ''Action Française'', a political movement that was monarchist, corporatis ...

Action Française ''Action Française'' (, AF; ) is a French far-right monarchist and nationalist political movement. The name was also given to a journal associated with the movement, '' L'Action Française'', sold by its own youth organization, the Camelot ...

and Marshal of France

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Bénoni Omer Joseph Pétain (; 24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), better known as Marshal Pétain (, ), was a French marshal who commanded the French Army in World War I and later became the head of the Collaboration with Nazi Ger ...

had their seats declared vacant and were not replaced until their deaths. Pardoned and released in 1948, Abel Hermant tried to justify his conduct during the Occupation in his ''Thirteenth Notebook''. He died shortly thereafter.

Works

* ''Ermeline—1796'' (1882–1890) * ''Les Mépris'' (1883) * ''M. Rabosson (l'éducation universitaire)'' (1884) * ''La Mission de Cruchod (Jean-Baptiste)'' (1885) * ''Le Cavalier Miserey'' (1887) * ''Nathalie Madoré'' (1888) * ''Amour de tête'' (1890) * ''Cœurs à part'' (1890) * ''Les Confidences d'une aïeule'' (1893) * ''Le Disciple aimé'' (1895) * ''Le Frisson de Paris'' (1895) * ''La Meute'' (1896) * ''Les Transatlantiques'' (1897) * ''Le Faubourg'' (1899) * ''Sylvie ou la Curieuse d'amour'' (1890) * ''Confession d'un homme d'aujourd'hui'' (1901–1929) * ''L'Archiduc Paul'' (1902) * ''L'Esbroufe'' (1904) * ''La Belle Madame Héber'' (1905) * ''Chaîne anglaise'' (1906) * ''Monsieur de Courpière'' (1907) * ''Les Affranchis'' (1908) * ''Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la société. Chronique du cadet de Coutras'' (1909) * ''Le Premier Pas'' (1910) * ''La fameuse comédienne'' (1913) * ''Madame'' (1914) * ''Histoire amoureuse de Fanfan'' (1917) * ''Le crépuscule tragique'' (1921) * ''Le Cycle de Lord Chelsea'' (1923) * ''Xavier ou Les entretiens sur la grammaire française'' (1923) * ''Les Fortunes de Ludmilla'' (1924) * ''Les Confidences d'une biche'' (1924) * ''Les noces vénitiennes'' (1924) * ''Camille aux cheveux courts'' (1927) * ''Le Nouvel Anacharsis. Promenade au jardin des lettres grecques'' (1928) * ''Affaires de cœur'' (1934) * ''Poppée, l'Amante de l'Antéchrist'' (1935) * ''Une vie, trois guerres—Témoignages et souvenirs'' (1943) * ''Le Treizième Cahier: rêveries et souvenirs d'un philosophe proscrit'' (1949)

References

* Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature, by Jean Albert Bédé, William Benbow * Marcel Proust, by William C. Carter, p. 269

External links

*
Association des amis d'Abel Hermant
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermant, Abel 1862 births 1950 deaths Writers from Paris Groupe Collaboration members French theatre critics Grammarians from France 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists 19th-century French dramatists and playwrights French male novelists 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers French prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Le Figaro people Legion of French Volunteers Against Bolshevism personnel Expelled members of the Académie Française People convicted of indignité nationale Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France