Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cycle of works called '' Les Hommes de bonne volonté (Men of Good Will)''.

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

called him one of the six best novelists in the world. He was nominated for the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

sixteen times.

Life

Jules Romains was born in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in the

Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Canta ...

but went to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

to attend first the

Lycée Condorcet The Lycée Condorcet () is a secondary school in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. Founded in 1803, it is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inc ...

and then the prestigious

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 ...

. He was close to the

Abbaye de Créteil L'Abbaye de Créteil or Abbaye group () was a utopian artistic and literary community founded during the month of October, 1906. It was named after the Créteil Abbey, as most gatherings took place in that suburb of Paris. History In 1905 and ea ...

, a utopian group founded in 1906 by Charles Vildrac and René Arcos, which brought together, among others, the writer Georges Duhamel, the painter

Albert Gleizes Albert Gleizes (; 8 December 1881 – 23 June 1953) was a French artist, theoretician, philosopher, a self-proclaimed founder of Cubism and an influence on the School of Paris. Albert Gleizes and Jean Metzinger wrote the first major treatise on ...

and the musician Albert Doyen. He received his

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

in philosophy in 1909. In the interwar years, he pleaded the cause of pacifism and a united Europe against incipient fascism and despotism. In 1927, he signed a petition (that appeared in the magazine ''Europe'' on 15 April) against the law on the general organization of the nation in time of war, abrogating all intellectual independence and all freedom of expression. His name on the petition appeared with those of Lucien Descaves, Louis Guilloux, Henry Poulaille, Séverine... and those of the young Raymond Aron and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

from the École normale supérieure. His novel ''The Boys in the Back Room'' (''Les Copains'', literally "the pals") appeared in English in 1937. During World War II he went into exile first to the United States where he spoke on the radio through the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

and then, beginning in 1941, to Mexico where he participated with other French refugees in founding the Institut Français d'Amérique Latine (IFAL). A writer on many varied topics, Jules Romains was elected to 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 ...

on 4 April 1946, occupying chair 12 (of 40). He served as President of

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, the worldwide association of writers from 1936 to 1941. In 1964, Jules Romains was named citizen of honor of Saint-Avertin. Following his death in

in 1972, his place in the Académie française was taken by Jean d'Ormesson. He was criticized by writer and politician

Aimé Césaire Aimé Fernand David Césaire (; ; 26 June 1913 – 17 April 2008) was a French poet, author, and politician from Martinique. He was "one of the founders of the Négritude movement in Francophone literature" and coined the word in French. He ...

in the 1950 essay '' Discourse on Colonialism'' for racist statements by the title character of his novel ''Salsette Discovers America'': "I will not even censure our Negroes and Negresses for chewing gum. I will only note... that this movement has the effect of emphasizing the jaws, and that the associations which come to mind evoke the equatorial forest rather than the procession of the

Panathenaea The Panathenaea (or Panathenaia) was a multi-day ancient Greek festival held annually in Athens that would always conclude on 28 Hekatombaion, the first month of the Attic calendar.Shear, Julia L. "Hadrian, the Panathenaia, and the Athenian Cale ...

.... The black race has not yet produced, will never produce, an

Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...

, a Stravinsky, a Gershwin."The quoted statements do not appear in the 1942 English-language first edition of the novel, but only in an expanded 1950 French-language second edition.

Unanimism

Jules Romains is remembered today, among other things, for his concept of Unanimism and his cycle of novels in '' Les Hommes de bonne volonté (The Men of Good Will)'', a remarkable literary fresco depicting the odyssey over a quarter century of two friends, the writer Jallez and politician Jerphanion, who provide an example in literature of Unanimism. Romains originally considered unanimism to mean an opposition to individualism or to the exaltation of individual particularities, universal sympathy with life, existence and humanity. In later years, Romains defined it as connected with the end of literature within "representation of the world without judgment", where his social ideals comprise the highest conception of solidarity as a defense of individual rights. His first book was ''La vie unanime'', published in 1904, and in the preface to ''Men of Goodwill'' he identified the ideas in it as essentially the same as those of that later work.

In popular culture

The Red Envelope catalog company, in their 2007 Holiday catalog, surprisingly featured ''Les Createurs'' (the twelfth volume of ''Les Hommes de bonne volonté'') on the cover in a photograph, showing a female model playfully frustrated with her husband, a male model posing as a detached intellectual, half-heartedly helping her to decorate the Christmas tree, while his attention is focused on reading ''Les Createurs''.

Works

* ''Men of Goodwill'' (''Les Hommes de bonne volonté'', 1932-1946; 27 volumes Paris: Calmann Lévy) * ''The body's rapture'' (''Psyche''), London: John Lane, 1933 * ''Salsette Discovers America'', New York: Knopf, 1942 * ''Tussles with time'' (''Violation de Frontières'', 1951), London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1952 * ''The Death of a Nobody'' (''Mort de quelqu'un'', 1911)

Filmography

* '' Knock'', directed by René Hervil (1925, based on the play '' Knock'') * '' Knock ou le triomphe de la médecine'', directed by Roger Goupillières and Louis Jouvet (1933, based on the play '' Knock'') * '' Donogoo Tonka'', directed by Reinhold Schünzel (1936, based on the play ''Donogoo'') ** '' Donogoo'', directed by Reinhold Schünzel and Henri Chomette (1936, based on the play ''Donogoo'') * '' Dr. Knock'', directed by Guy Lefranc (1951, based on the play '' Knock'') * ', directed by

Yves Robert Yves Robert (; 19 June 1920 – 10 May 2002) was a French actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. Life and career Robert was born in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France. In his teens, he went to Paris to pursue a career in acting, starting w ...

(1965, based on the novel ') * '' Knock'', directed by Lorraine Lévy (2017, based on the play '' Knock'')

Screenwriter

* '' The Portrait'' (1923), directed by

Jacques Feyder Jacques Feyder (; 21 July 1885 – 24 May 1948) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 193 ...

(1923) * ''

Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...

'', directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...

(1941)

References

Bibliography

* Mauthner, Martin, ''Otto Abetz and His Paris Acolytes - French Writers Who Flirted with Fascism, 1930–1945''. Sussex Academic Press, 2016, () * Jules-Romains, Lise, ''Les vie inimitables, Souvenirs'', Paris: Flammarion, 1985.

External links

Poems by Jules Romains

in ''The New York Times''
PEN International
*
''Portrait de Jules Romains''
in charcoal (1939) by his close friend Charles Picart Le Doux
''Portrait de Jules Romains''
(1935) by Jean de Botton at the Centre national des arts plastiques {{DEFAULTSORT:Romains, Jules 1885 births 1972 deaths People from Haute-Loire Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie Française Lycée Condorcet alumni French male novelists French pacifists 20th-century French novelists 20th-century French male writers