Robert Francis (born Jean Godmé; 24 October 1909 – 29 June 1946) was a French writer, winner of the 1934 edition of the

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French List of literary awards, literary prize awarded each year by an exclusively female jury. The prize, which was established in 1904, is awarded to French-language works written in prose or Verse (poetry), verse by male ...

Biography

Born in

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 ...

, Robert Francis was the brother of

Jean-Pierre Maxence Jean-Pierre Maxence (20 August 1906 – 16 May 1956) was a French writer who was one of the so-called Non-conformists of the 1930s. Maxence was a leading figure within the so-called ''Jeune Droite'' tendency and was associated with other Catholic ...

. After studying science, he occupied a post of civil engineer in the north of France in the 1930s. At the same time, he devoted himself to literature and founded the literary magazine ''Les Cahiers'' with his brother in 1928; the magazine ran until 1931. Robert Francis belonged to the middle of the ''Jeune Droite catholique des années 1930'' ("Young Catholic Right of the 1930s"). He was a friend of

Thierry Maulnier Thierry Maulnier (born Jacques Talagrand; 1 October 1909 – 9 January 1988) was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic who was born in Alès and died in Marnes-la-Coquette. He was married to theatre director Marcelle ...

; together with him and his brother Jean-Pierre Maxence, he wrote ''Demain la France'' ("Tomorrow France"), a charge against the Popular Front government, written on the morrow of the

6 February 1934 crisis The 6 February 1934 crisis (also known as the Veterans' Riot) was an anti-parliamentarist street demonstration in Paris, organized by multiple far-right leagues that culminated in a riot on the Place de la Concorde, near the building used for t ...

. Francis is buried at the

Cimetière parisien de Bagneux Cimetière parisien de Bagneux is one of the three Parisien cemeteries ''extra muros'', located in Bagneux. The cemetery has a large Jewish section (many of the divisions have exclusively Jewish graves) and is sometimes known as the ''Jewish cem ...

Work

; Histoire d'une famille sous la Troisième République (suite romanesque) : *1933: (I) - ''La Grange aux trois belles'', Paris, Librairie de la Revue française, Alexis Redier éd. *1934: (II) - ''La Chute de la maison de verre - La maison de verre'', Librairie de la Revue française, Alexis Redier éd. *1934: (III) - ''La Chute de la maison de verre'' - ''Le Bateau-refuge'', Paris,

éditions Gallimard Éditions Gallimard (), formerly Éditions de la Nouvelle Revue Française (1911–1919) and Librairie Gallimard (1919–1961), is one of the leading French book publishers. In 2003, it and its subsidiaries published 1,418 titles. Founded by G ...

- Prix Fémina 1934 *1935: (IV) - ''Les Mariés de Paris'', Gallimard *1937: (V) - ''Le Gardien d’épaves'', Gallimard ; Other publications : *1934: ''Demain la France'', Paris,

éditions Grasset Éditions Grasset () is a French publishing house founded in 1907 by (1881–1955). Grasset publishes French and foreign literature, essays, novels and children's books, among others. Bernard Grasset sold ownership of the company to Hachette ...

, 1934, cowritten with Jean-Pierre Maxence and Thierry Maulnier *1936: ''Une vie d'enfant'', Gallimard, (his first essay fiction, previously published in review) *1937: ''Un an de vacances'', Gallimard *1938: ''La Jeune Fille secrète'', Gallimard *1939: ''L'Oie'', Gallimard *1941: ''Souvenirs imaginaires'', Gallimard *1941: ''Histoire sainte'' (tales), Gallimard

References

External links

Robert Francis
on Actualitté
Robert Francis
on Éditions Gallimard
Robert Francis
on ''Sartre devant la presse d’Occupation'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Robert 20th-century French non-fiction writers Prix Femina winners 1909 births 1946 deaths