Andre Maurois - biography, information, personal life. Andre Maurois - letters to a stranger Editions in Russian

Recognized as an unsurpassed author of biographies. But the literary activity of the French writer is very rich and versatile. He has written biographical novels and psychological stories, love novels and travel essays, philosophical essays and fantasy stories. But no matter what genre his books belong to, the harmony of the writer Maurois’s language, clarity of thought, perfection of style, subtle irony and fascinating narrative will forever captivate readers.

Biography of the writer

Emile Erzog, known to readers under the name Andre Maurois, was born into a family of industrialists in Normandy, near Rouen, in 1885. His father was the owner of a textile factory, where Andre himself later worked as an administrator. The writer's childhood was serene: wealthy parents, a friendly family, respect and attention from adults. Later, the author wrote that this was precisely what formed in him tolerance for other people’s opinions, a sense of personal and civic duty.

As a child he read a lot. Particularly noted is his love for Russian writers, which did not fade away until the last days of his life. He first began writing at the Rouen Lyceum, where he studied since 1897. Among the teachers of the future writer Maurois was the philosopher Alain, who had a significant influence on the young man’s worldview. Having received a licentiate degree, Andre still chose to study the family business, which he worked on for about ten years. After the death of his father, Maurois refused to run the family business and devoted himself entirely to his literary career.

Years of war

During World War I, the French writer Maurois served as a liaison officer, and then worked on the editorial staff of the magazine Croix de Fé. Maurois participated in and served in the French army at the beginning of World War II. Thanks to the connections of his second wife, in particular Marshal Pétain, in 1938 Maurois was elected chairman of the prestigious French Academy and held this chair for almost thirty years.

After the Nazi occupation of France, he moved with his family to the United States, returning to his native country in 1946. In 1947, the writer legalized his pseudonym. He died in the suburbs of Paris and was buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine cemetery.

Personal life

In 1909, in Geneva, the writer Andre Maurois met the daughter of a Polish count, Zhanna Szymkiewicz, who became his first wife and the mother of his two sons and daughter Michelle. The daughter became a writer; she wrote a trilogy based on many family letters. In 1918, Janine, the writer’s wife, suffered a nervous breakdown, and in 1924 she died of sepsis.

In the autumn of the same year, after the publication of the book Dialogues sur le commandement, he was invited to dinner by Marshal Pétain. Here the writer meets Simone de Cailavet, the daughter of the playwright Gaston Armand and the granddaughter of Madame Armand, the owner of a fashionable literary salon and the muse of the writer Anatole France. Simone and Andre's wedding took place in 1926.

Literary heritage

The French writer Andre Maurois left a rich literary heritage. Despite the fact that he began writing quite early, he published his short stories only in 1935. Maurois collected them in the book “First Stories”. This also included the short story “The Birth of a Celebrity,” written by the writer in 1919. The difference between semi-children's stories and this novella is striking.

He published his first book, The Silence of Colonel Bramble, based on his memories of the First World War, in 1918. Maurois was very demanding of himself, which partly explains the success that his first novel brought. It is difficult to name a genre to which a writer would remain indifferent. His legacy includes historical studies, novelized biographies, sociological essays, stories for children, psychological novels and literary essays.

Books by Andre Maurois

Memories and experiences gained in the First World War formed the basis of two books by the writer Maurois: The Silence of Colonel Bramble, published in 1918, and The Speeches of Dr. O'Grady, published in 1921. In the post-war years, the writer creates psychological novels:

• in 1926 Bernard Quesnay was published;
• “The Vicissitudes of Love” was published in 1928;
• in 1932, “Family Circle” was released;
• in 1934 - “Letters to a Stranger”;
• in 1946 - a collection of stories “The Promised Land”;
• in 1956 - “September Roses”.

The writer penned a trilogy of the lives of English romantics, which was later published under the general title “Romantic England”. It included: the book “Ariel”, published in 1923; “The Life of Disraeli” and “Byron” were published in 1927 and 1930, respectively. Literary portraits of French writers comprised four books:

• 1964 - “From La Bruyère to Proust”;
• 1963 - “From Proust to Camus”;
• 1965 - “From Gide to Sartre”;
• 1967 - “From Aragon to Monterlant.”

A master of the biographical genre, Maurois is the author of books about great people, in which, based on accurate biographical data, he draws their living images:

• 1930 - “Byron”;
• 1931 - “Turgenev”;
• 1935 - “Voltaire”;
• 1937 - “Edward VII”;
• 1938 - “Chateaubriand”;
• 1949 - “Marcel Proust”;
• 1952 - “George Sand”;
• 1955 - “Victor Hugo”;
• 1957 - “Three Dumas”;
• 1959 - “Alexander Fleming”;
• 1961 - “The Life of Madame de Lafayette”;
• 1965 - “Balzac”.

The writer Maurois is the author of scientific and journalistic books: “History of England”, published in 1937, “History of the United States” was published in 1943, “History of France” in 1947. The writer's creative heritage is enormous: he owns more than two hundred books and thousands of articles. The writer's collected works were published in the early 50s in sixteen volumes.

The undeniable quality of Andre Maurois as a writer is his sophisticated psychologism, which is clearly manifested in his works. I would like to end the article with his words, which sound like a testament to his contemporaries: “The artist is obliged to make such an incomprehensible real world understandable. Readers look for high spiritual values ​​and new strength in books. Our responsibility is to help the reader see the HUMANITY in every person.”

French writer, classic of the biographical novel genre Andre Maurois; real name - Emil Herzog was born on July 26, 1885 in the town of Elbeuf near Rouen. Maurois came from a wealthy Jewish family from Alsace that converted to Catholicism. After 1871, having received French citizenship, the family moved to Normandy. Father Andre Maurois owned a textile factory. Andre attended the gymnasium of Elbeuf and Rouen. A significant role in shaping Maurois’s views on the world, society, and art was played by his school teacher Emile Chartier, a French philosopher, moralist and writer known as Alain.

In 1897, Maurois entered the Lyceum Corneille in Rouen, after which he entered the University of Cannes. At the same time, he began working at his father’s factory, where from 1903 to 1911. served as administrator.

During the First World War, André Maurois was a liaison officer for the British forces in France and served as a military translator for the British Expeditionary Force. War impressions served as material for Maurois's first novels, The Silent Colonel Bramble, 1918, and The Talkative Doctor O'Grady. After the death of his father in 1925, Maurois sold the factory and devoted himself entirely to literary creativity. In the 1920-1930s. Andre Maurois created a trilogy from the lives of English romantics: “Ariel, or the Life of Shelley”, “The Life of Disraeli” and “Byron”, which was later published under the general title “Romantic England”, and published several novels: “Bernard Quesnet”, “Vicissitudes” love", "Family circle".

In 1938 André Maurois was elected a member of the French Academy.

When the Second World War began, the writer volunteered for the active army, and after the occupation of France by German troops, he emigrated to the United States. He taught at the University of Kansas. In 1943 he served with the Allied forces in North Africa. In 1946, Maurois returned to France.

Close ties of friendship connected Maurois with the pilot and writer Antoine Saint-Exupéry. In the fall of 1939, both left the Ministry of Information to serve in the army. Fate brought them together again in exile in the United States, then in Algeria, liberated from the Germans.

After returning to his homeland, Maurois published collections of short stories, the book “In Search of Marcel Proust” (A la recherche de Marcel Proust, 1949).

Maurois's creative heritage is truly enormous - 200 books, more than a thousand articles. Among his works are psychological novels and short stories, fantastic novellas and travel essays, biographies of great people and literary portraits, historical works and philosophical essays - “Feelings and Customs”, “Paul Verlaine. Caliban, who was Ariel”, popular science works - "History of England" and "History of France".

In the early 50s. XX century A publication of the collected works of Andre Maurois was published in 16 volumes.

The literary portraits that make up four books by Andre Maurois are dedicated to French writers: “From La Bruyère to Proust” (1964), “From Proust to Camus” (1963), “From Gide to Sartre” (1965), “From Aragon to Monterlant” (1967) ).

In 1956, “Letters to a Stranger” was published by the La Jeune Parc publishing house in Paris. They appeared in Russian in 1974 in an abbreviated form in the journal “Foreign Literature”.

But, above all, Maurois is a master of the biographical genre, where, based on accurate documentation, he draws living images of great people. He won worldwide fame with his biographical works "Byron" (1930), "Turgenev" (1931), "Lelia, or the Life of George Sand" (Lelia ou la Vie de George Sand, 1952), "Olympio, or the Life of Victor Hugo", " Three Dumas", "The Life of Alexander Fleming" (1959).

In the year of his 80th birthday, Maurois wrote his last biographical work, Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac.

In 1970, Andre Maurois' book "Memoirs" was published in France, in which the writer spoke about his life, about meetings with such great contemporaries as Roosevelt and Churchill, de Gaulle and Clemenceau, Kipling and Saint-Exupery.

Many of the writer’s works have been translated into Russian, including “The Vicissitudes of Love”, “The Family Circle”, “The Life of Alexander Fleming”, “Disraeli’s Career”, “Byron”, “Olympio, or the Life of Victor Hugo”, “Three Dumas”, "Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac" and others.

In the sixties, Maurois willingly appeared on the pages of the Soviet press. They established friendly relations with Soviet writers.

Maurois was a member of a number of public organizations and collaborated in democratic publications. He signed protests by cultural figures against the arrests of the Mexican artist David Siqueiros and the Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos.

Andre Maurois was married twice. After the death of his first wife, Janina de Szymkiewicz, he married Simone de Caivet, the niece of Marcel Proust.

Andre Maurois - Literary Portraits

The real name of the man whom readers around the world know as Andre Maurois is Emil Solomon Wilhelm Erzog. This is a famous French writer, literary critic, historian; he is recognized as an unsurpassed master of writing biographies of famous people in the form of a novel. After some time, the creative pseudonym turned into his official name.

Maurois was born in Elphebe, a place near Rouen, on July 26, 1885. His family were Alsatian Jews who converted to the Catholic religion, moved to Normandy after 1871 and became French subjects. In 1897, Andre was a student at the Rouen Lyceum, and at the age of 16 he received a licentiate degree. After completing his studies at the Lyceum, he entered the University of Cannes. Almost simultaneously, his career begins: the young man gets a job at his father’s factory and works there as an administrator during 1903-1911.

When World War I broke out, André Maurois took part in the war effort as a liaison officer and military translator. The impressions he received during the war helped Maurois try himself in the literary field and became the basis for his first novel, “The Silent Colonel Bramble.” After its publication in 1918, Maurois learned what success was, and his fame immediately spread beyond the borders of his native country; the work was warmly received in Great Britain and America.

After the end of the war, Andre Maurois’s place of work was the editorial office of the magazine “Croix de Fé”. Inspired by the success of his first novel, the aspiring writer dreamed not of a career in a magazine, but of a professional literary career. Already in 1921, his new novel “The Speeches of Doctor O’Grady” was published. When his father died, Maurois, having sold his production, devoted all his energy to the creation of literary works from 1925. Over the course of 20-30 years. he wrote a trilogy about the lives of famous English representatives of romanticism - Shelley, Disraeli and Byron. He also wrote a number of other novels. On June 23, 1938, a significant event took place in the life of Maurois: his literary merits were recognized by his election to the French Academy.

When World War II began, the writer volunteered to join the active French army, serving with the rank of captain; he was 54 years old at the time. When France was occupied by Nazi troops, Maurois moved to the United States, where he worked as a teacher at the University of Kansas. 1943 was marked by departure to North Africa; returning to his homeland took place in 1946. During this period, Maurois wrote the book “In Search of Marcel Proust” (1949), a collection of short stories.

The writer worked until a very old age. In the year of his 80th anniversary, he wrote a novel, which became the last in a series of biographical works - “Prometheus, or the Life of Balzac” (1965). Literally a few days before his death, the last point in his memoirs was put.

Andre Maurois's contribution to national literature is truly great - two hundred books, as well as more than a thousand articles. He was a multi-genre writer, from his pen came not only the biographies of great people that made him famous, but also fantastic short stories, psychological stories, novels, philosophical essays, historical works, and popular science works. Maurois was elected honorary doctor of the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, and was a Knight of the Legion of Honor (1937). The writer also led a fairly active social life, was a member of several public organizations, and collaborated with democratic publications.

Death overtook Andre Maurois in his own home, located in one of the suburbs of Paris, on October 9, 1967.

Andre Maurois - Literary Portraits