Roger Martin du Gard (; 23 March 1881 – 22 August 1958) was a French novelist, winner of the 1937 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Biography

Trained as a paleographer and archivist, he brought to his works a spirit of objectivity and a scrupulous regard for detail, and because of his concern with documentation and the relationship of social reality to individual development, his fiction has been linked with the realist and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

traditions of the 19th century. His sympathy for the humanist

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and pacifism of

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 ...

is evident in his work. He is best known for '' The Thibaults'', a multi-volume '' roman fleuve'' which follows the fortunes of two brothers, Antoine and Jacques Thibault, from their upbringing in a prosperous Catholic bourgeois family to the end of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Six parts of the novel were published between 1922 and 1929. After abandoning a seventh volume in manuscript, he published two more volumes in 1936 and 1940. Written under the shadow of the darkening international situation in Europe in the 1930s, these last parts, which together are longer than the previous six combined, focus on the political and historical situation leading up to the outbreak of the First World War and bring the story to 1918. Du Gard wrote several other novels, including ''Jean Barois'', which was set against the historical context of the Dreyfus affair. 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 ...

, he resided in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

, a longtime friend. Du Gard died in 1958 and was buried in the Cimiez Monastery Cemetery in Cimiez, a suburb of the city of

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

Partial bibliography

* '' Devenir !'' (1908) * '' Jean Barois'' (1913) (translated into English in 1950) * '' Les Thibault'' (1922–1940) (translated as ''The Thibaults'' and ''Summer 1914'') * ''Confidence africaine'' (1930) (translated as ''Confidence Africaine'' in 1983) * '' Vieille France'' (1933) (translated as ''The Postman'') * '' Notes sur André Gide'' (1951) * '' Souvenirs du lieutenant-colonel de Maumort'' (English: ''Lieutenant-Colonel de Maumort'') (1983)

References

* Claude Sicard, ''Roger Martin Du Gard. Les années d'apprentissage littéraire (1881-1910)'', Champion, 1976.

External links

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List of Works
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Roger Martin du Gard, 1937 Nobel Laureate for Literature
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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin du Gard, Roger 1881 births 1958 deaths Writers from Neuilly-sur-Seine Nobel laureates in Literature French Nobel laureates Lycée Condorcet alumni École Nationale des Chartes alumni French male novelists French socialists French pacifists 20th-century French novelists