Paul Morand

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Paul Morand (b. March 13, 1888, Paris. d. July 24, 1976) was a French diplomat, novelist, playwright and poet, considered an early Modernist. He was a member of the Académie française (his candidature was initially rejected by de Gaulle, the only instance of a President ever exercising his right to vet electees to the academy. Morand was finally elected ten years later, though he still had to forgo the official investiture).

He was a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (better known as Sciences Po). During the pre-war period, he wrote many short books which are noted for their elegance of style, erudition, narrative concision, and for the author's observation of the countries he visited combined with his middle-class views.

Morand's reputation has been marred by his stance during the Second World War, when he collaborated with the Vichy regime and was a vocal antisemite. When the Second World War ended, Morand served as an ambassador in Bern, but his position was revoked and he lived in exile in Switzerland.

Post-war, he was a patron of the Hussards literary movement, which opposed Existentialism.

Paul Morand was a close friend of Marcel Proust and has left valuable observations about him.

[edit] Books

Fouquet ou Le Soleil offusqué, éditions Gallimard, Paris, 1961.
Ouvert la nuit (1922)
Fermé la nuit (1923)
L'Europe galante
Bucarest(1935)
L'Homme pressé (1941)
Venises (1970)
Journal inutile (mémoires, en 2 volumes, 2002)
- Rien que la terre,
- Magie noire (1927),
- Paris-Tombouctou,
- New York (1929),
- Champions du monde (1930),
- Papiers d'identité (1930),
- Air indien,
- Londres,
- Rococo,
- La Route des Indes,
- L'heure qu'il est, chroniques de cet infatigable voyageur.
Le Dernier Jour de l'Inquisition,
Le Flagellant de Séville,
Le Coucou et le Roitelet,
L'Eau sous les ponts,
Hécate et ses chiens,
La Folle amoureuse,
Fin de siècle,(1957)
Nouvelles d'une vie,
Les Écarts amoureux