Anatole France

***' (; born ***', ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, critic, and novelist. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1921. He was a member of the _Académie française_.

## Early life

Anatole France was a son of a bookseller. He studied at the _Collège Stanislas_. He got married in 1877 but he get divorced in 1892. He was librarian for the _French Senate_ in 1876 - 1890.

## Literary career

Anatole France start his career as a parnassianism poet. Later he became an impressionist and he was an atheist. From 1867 he was a journalist. In 1881 he became famous with the novel _Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard, membre de l'Institut_. It's about an old scholar Sylvester Bonnard, Bonnard wants to make good, but he commits a crime. This novel won France a prize from the _French Academy_. In 1893 he captured the atmosphere of the fin de siècle in _Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard_.

France took a part in the _Dreyfus Affair_. He signed Émile Zola's manifesto supporting Dreyfus. Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer and he was charged with high treason. In 1901 France wrote _Monsieur Bergeret_ about this affair. He stood out against colonialism.

In 1921 he was awarded the Nobel Prize. He died in 1924 and he is buried near Paris in the _Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery_.

### Poetry

- _Poèmes dorés_ (1873)
- _Les Noces corinthiennes_ (1876)

### Prose

- _Jocaste et Le Chat maigre_ (1879)
- _Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard, membre de l’Institut_ (1881)
- _Les Désirs de Jean Servien_ (1882)
- _Abeille, conte_ (1883)
- _Balthasar_ (1889)
- _Thaïs_ (1890)
- _L’Étui de nacre_ (1892)
- _La Rôtisserie de la reine Pédauque_ (1892)
- _Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard_ (1893)
- _Le Lys rouge_ (1894)
- _Le Jardin d’Épicure_ (1895)
- _Le Puits de Sainte Claire_ (1895)
- _L’Histoire contemporaine_
    - _L’Orme du mail_ (1897), (_L’Histoire contemporaine_, I)
    - _Le Mannequin d'osier_ (1897), (_L’Histoire contemporaine_, II)
    - _L’Anneau d'améthyste_ (1899), (_L’Histoire contemporaine_, III)
    - _Monsieur Bergeret à Paris_ (1901), (_L’Histoire contemporaine_, IV)
- _Clio_ (1900)
- _Le Procurateur de Judée_ (1902)
- _Histoires comiques_ (1903)
- _Sur la pierre blanche_ (1905)
- _L'Affaire Crainquebille_ (1901)
- _L’Île des Pingouins_ (1908)
- _Les Contes de Jacques Tournebroche_ (1908)
- _Les Sept Femmes de Barbe bleue et autres contes merveilleux_ (1909)
- _Les dieux ont soif_ (1912)
- _La Révolte des anges_ (1914)

### Memoirs

- _Le Livre de mon ami_ (1885)
- _Pierre Nozière_ (1899)
- _Le Petit Pierre_ (1918)
- _La Vie en fleur_ (1922)

### Plays

- _Au petit bonheur_, (1898)
- _Crainquebille_, (1903)
- _La Comédie de celui qui épousa une femme muette_, (1908)
- _Le Mannequin d'osier_, (1928)

### Historical biography

- _Vie de Jeanne d'Arc_ (1908)

### Literary criticism

- _Alfred de Vigny_, étude (1869)
- _Le Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte_ (1888)
- _Le Génie Latin_ (1913)

### Social criticism

- _Opinions sociales_ (1902)
- _Le Parti noir_ (1904)
- _Vers les temps meilleurs_ (1906)
- _Sur la voie glorieuse_ (1915)

## Other websites

- Anatole France Biography  at LitWeb
- Works by Anatole France at Internet Archive
- _Anatole France, Nobel Prize Winner_ by Herbert S. Gorman, The New York Times, 20 November 1921