André Gide facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
André Gide
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| Born | André Paul Guillaume Gide 22 November 1869 Paris, France |
| Died | 19 February 1951 (aged 81) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Cimetière de Cuverville, Cuverville, Seine-Maritime |
| Occupation | Novelist, essayist, dramatist |
| Education | Lycée Henri-IV |
| Notable works | The Immoralist Strait Is the Gate Les caves du Vatican (The Vatican Cellars; sometimes published in English under the title Lafcadio's Adventures) The Pastoral Symphony The Counterfeiters The Fruits of the Earth |
| Notable awards | Nobel Prize in Literature 1947 |
| Spouse | Madeleine Rondeaux Gide |
| Children | Catherine Gide |
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André Paul Guillaume Gide (born 22 November 1869 – died 19 February 1951) was a famous French writer. He wrote many different kinds of books and essays. He won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature for his work. Gide's writing career started with the Symbolist movement. Later, he spoke out against imperialism between the two World Wars. He wrote over fifty books. The New York Times called him "France's greatest contemporary man of letters" when he passed away.
Contents
Early Life and First Writings
André Gide was born in Paris, France, on 22 November 1869. He grew up in a middle-class Protestant family. His father, Jean Paul Guillaume Gide, was a law professor at the University of Paris. Sadly, his father died when André was only eleven years old. His mother was Juliette Maria Rondeaux. André's uncle, Charles Gide, was a well-known economist.
Gide's family had roots in Italy. His ancestors, the Guidos, moved to France and other European countries. They were Protestants who faced difficulties in Catholic Italy during the 16th century.
André Gide grew up in a quiet area in Normandy. He started writing a lot when he was young. He published his first novel, The Notebooks of André Walter, in 1891. He was twenty-one years old at the time.
In 1893 and 1894, Gide traveled in Northern Africa. During his travels, he became friends with the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde in Paris. They met again in Algiers in 1895.
The Middle Years and New Ideas
In 1895, after his mother passed away, Gide married his cousin Madeleine Rondeaux. In 1896, he was chosen as the mayor of La Roque-Baignard, a small town in Normandy.
From 1901 to 1907, Gide lived on the island of Jersey. This time was seen as a period of change for him. In 1908, Gide helped start an important literary magazine called Nouvelle Revue Française (The New French Review).
During World War I, Gide visited England. He became friends with the artist William Rothenstein. Rothenstein wrote about Gide's visit in his autobiography:
André Gide was in England during the war. ... He came to stay with us for a time, and brought with him a young nephew, whose English was better than his own. The boy made friends with my son John, while Gide and I discussed everything under the sun. Once again I delighted in the range and subtlety of a Frenchman's intelligence; and I regretted my long severance from France. Nobody understood art more profoundly than Gide, no one's view of life was more penetrating. ...
Gide had a half satanic, half monk-like mien; he put one in mind of portraits of Baudelaire. Withal there was something exotic about him. He would appear in a red waistcoat, black velvet jacket and beige-coloured trousers and, in lieu of collar and tie, a loosely knotted scarf. ...
The heart of man held no secrets for Gide. There was little that he didn't understand, or discuss. He suffered, as I did, from the banishment of truth, one of the distressing symptoms of war. The Germans were not all black, and the Allies all white, for Gide.
Gide also became close friends with the critic Charles Du Bos. They worked together in a group called Foyer Franco-Belge. They helped find jobs, food, and homes for refugees from France and Belgium. These refugees came to Paris after the 1914 German invasion of Belgium. Their friendship later changed.
In the 1920s, Gide became an inspiration for other writers like Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1923, he published a book about Fyodor Dostoyevsky. In 1924, he published Corydon, which he later called his most important work.
In 1923, Gide had a daughter named Catherine Gide. Her mother was Elisabeth van Rysselberghe, who was the daughter of Gide's friends. In 1924, Gide published his autobiography, If it Die... (French: Si le grain ne meurt). That same year, he also helped publish the first French versions of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim.
His wife, Madeleine Gide, died in 1938. He later wrote about their marriage in his memoir, Et nunc manet in te.
Travels in Africa
From July 1926 to May 1927, Gide traveled through the French colony of French Equatorial Africa. He visited places like Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, and Cameroon. He wrote a journal about his travels, which was published as Travels in the Congo and Return from Chad.
In these books, Gide criticized how French businesses treated workers in the Congo. He helped inspire reforms. He strongly spoke out against the Large Concessions system. Under this system, the government gave parts of the colony to French companies. These companies could use the area's natural resources, especially rubber. Gide wrote that local workers were forced to leave their villages for weeks to collect rubber. He compared their treatment by the companies to slavery. His books helped grow the anti-colonialism movements in France. They also made people think differently about the effects of colonialism in Africa.
Political Views and the Soviet Union
In the early 1930s, Gide was interested in Communism, like many other thinkers. However, after his trip to the USSR in 1936, his views changed. He then supported the Anti-Stalinist left. By the 1940s, he moved towards more traditional ideas. He no longer supported Communism, seeing it as a break from Christian traditions.
Gide contributed to a book called The God that Failed in 1949. He was not well enough to write an essay himself. So, a writer named Enid Starkie wrote the text for him. She used his earlier writings and discussions. Gide approved the final text.
Later Years and Nobel Prize
In 1930, Gide published a book called La Séquestrée de Poitiers. It was about the Blanche Monnier case, where a young woman was held captive by her own mother for over 25 years. Gide changed only the names of the people involved.
In 1939, Gide became the first living author to have his works published in the famous Bibliothèque de la Pléiade collection.
He left France for Africa in 1942. He lived in Tunis until May 1943, when French, British, and American forces took it back. He then moved to Algiers and stayed there until the end of World War II.
In 1947, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won "for his comprehensive and artistically significant writings, in which human problems and conditions have been presented with a fearless love of truth and keen psychological insight." He spent much of his last years publishing his personal journal. André Gide died in Paris on 19 February 1951.
Gide's Life as a Writer
André Gide wrote in many different styles. He was a master of storytelling, sometimes wrote plays, and worked as a translator. He was also a literary critic, wrote many letters, essays, and kept a detailed diary. He is known as one of the most interesting "men of letters" in 20th-century French literature.
Images for kids
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André Gide's signature
See Also
In Spanish: André Gide para niños
