France, Anatole

France, Anatole, pseudonym of Jacques Anatole François Thibault (1844-1924), French novelist and Nobel laureate, frequently regarded as the greatest French writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

France was born on April 16, 1844, in Paris. He attended the Stanislas School in Paris, but was mostly self-educated. From early youth he was an insatiable reader. His first published books were the volume of verse Les Poèmes dorés (Golden Tales, 1873) and the verse drama The Bride of Corinth (1876; trans. 1920). It was not, however, until the publication of his first novel, Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard (1881; trans. 1906), that he exhibited the stylistic grace, subtle, biting irony, and genuine compassion that later became the distinguishing characteristics of his work. He produced a large body of writings, including novels, drama, verse, critical and philosophical essays, and historical works. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1896 and was awarded the 1921 Nobel Prize for Literature.

In 1883 France formed a liaison with Madame Arman de Caillavet, who inspired France to arduous creative labours and promoted his works through her social connections. His writings of those middle years include the critical essays La Vie littéraire (The Literary Life, 4 vols., 1888-1892); the novels Thaïs (1890; trans. 1909) and Le Lys rouge (1894; trans. 1908); and the tetralogy of novels L'Histoire contemporaine (A Contemporary Tale, 1897-1901), a harsh analysis of the corrosive effects on French life of the Dreyfus Affair. France was among the French intellectuals who fought successfully for the exoneration of Alfred Dreyfus, an army captain convicted of treason (see Dreyfus Affair).

In his later works France became an advocate of humanitarian causes. He made eloquent pleas in his writings for civil liberties, popular education, and the rights of labour, and he attacked with bitter, brilliant satire the political, economic, and social abuses of his time. Despite his polemics, however, the elegant, sweeping cadences and masterly language of France's works testified to his devotion to classical forms. Outstanding among the writings that demonstrate both his powerful social consciousness and his classical eloquence are the allegorical novels L'Île des pingouins (1880; trans. 1909) and The Revolt of the Angels (1914; trans. 1914) and an account of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, Les Dieux ont soif (1912; The Gods are Athirst 1913). France died at Tours on October 13, 1924.