Romains, Jules

Romains, Jules, pseudonym of Louis Farigoule (1885-1972), French writer, who was a leader of the unanimist movement. He was born in St Julien Chapteuil, in the Cévennes region, and educated in science and philosophy at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He taught philosophy (1909-1919) before devoting his life to writing. Romains published nearly 100 titles. His work expresses his unanimist philosophy that humans must be regarded as social creatures, not as individuals. His books are distinguished by a panoramic vision that enabled him to describe, with a strong sense of irony, different strata of society in almost reportorial detail and clarity. His views first appear in La Vie unanime (The Unanimist Life, 1908), a volume of poetry. The most comprehensive statement of his philosophy is his monumental study of French life and thought in the years 1908-1933, a series of novels entitled Les Hommes de bonne volonté (27 vol., 1932-1946; trans. 1933-1946). Romains's other notable works include Doctor Knock (1923; trans. 1925), a farce that has become a modern classic, and the novels Mort de quelqu'un (1910; trans. 1914) and The Boys in the Back Room (1913; trans. 1938).