Hervé Bazin

Hervé Bazin(French:[bazɛ̃]; 17 April 1911 – 17 February 1996) was a French writer, whose best-known novels covered semi-autobiographical topics ofteenage rebellionanddysfunctional families.
Bazin, bornJean-Pierre Hervé-BazininAngers,Maine-et-Loire, France came from ahigh-bourgeoisCatholic family. He was the great-nephew of the writerRené Bazin.His father was a magistrate who with his wife had been sent to China to take up a diplomatic post. Hervé and his brother were brought up in the ancestral home, the chateau of Le Patys, by their grandmother. When she died, his mother returned fromHanoiwith reluctance. She sent Bazin to a variety of clerical establishments and then to the military academy, thePrytanée de la Fleche, from which he was expelled as incompetent.He opposed his authoritarian mother, ran away several times during his teens, and refused Catholic teachings.  At the age of 20 he broke up with his family.
Leaving his home for Paris, he took a degree in literature at theSorbonne. During fifteen years of writing poetry with little success, Bazin worked in many small jobs. Notable work of this period included founding a poetic review,la Coquille(The Shell, only eight volumes), named after the medieval poet-beggars, thecoquillardsofVillon's days,and "À la poursuite d'Iris" in 1948. He won the 1947Prix ApollinaireforJour, his first book of poetry.
Following the advice ofPaul Valéry, he left poetry to focus on prose.
Childhood conflicts with his mother inspired the novelViper in the Fistin 1948. The novel portrays the hatred between a mother nicknamed Folcoche (from the French "folle" (crazy) and "cochonne" (pig) and her children, including the narrator Jean Rezeau, called "Brasse-bouillon". The book was immensely successful inpostwar France, and was followed byLa Mort du Petit ChevalandLe Cri de la Chouetteto create a trilogy. In other works, Bazin returned to the theme of the family. In addition to novels, he also wrote short stories and essays.
Bazin became a member of theAcadémie Goncourtin 1958, replacingFrancis Carco. He became its president in 1973, and was replaced, after his death, byJorge Semprún, while the presidency was given toFrançois Nourissier.
Politically, Bazin belonged to theMouvement de la Paix, in relation with thecommunist partyof which he was a sympathizer. He obtained theLenin Peace Prizein 1979. This madeRoger Peyrefittesay jokingly: "Hervé Bazin had two prizes which fitted each other: the Lenin Peace Prize and the black humour prize."
In 1995, he gave his manuscripts and letters to the record office of the town ofNancy, which already owned the archives of theGoncourtbrothers, who originated from the town. Bazin died inAngers.
Due to a juridical imbroglio, the six children of his first marriages obtained, against the will of his last spouse and last son, the auction of the archive at theHôtel Drouoton 29 October 2004. With help from the district's authorities, the university library of Angers managed to preempt almost the whole of the estate, meaning 22 manuscripts and about 9000 letters which were made available to the research community, as the author wished.
In his 1966 essayPlumons l’Oiseau("Let's pluck the bird"):Bazin proposed a nearlyphonemic orthographyfor theFrench languagecalled "l’ortografiǝ lojikǝ"(logical orthography).
He also proposed six new "points d’intonation" (punctuation marks):
Example: