Henri Bachelin (27 March 1879 – 21 September 1941) was a 20th-century French writer

Biography

After studying at the seminary of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is ...

, followed by four years in the army, he practiced the profession of bank clerk, which he abandoned in 1911 to devote himself exclusively to literature. He published about forty books, mostly novels and short stories, but also works of literary criticism and musicology. These are works centered on the painting of provincial life, like ''Sous d'humbles toits'', ''Juliette la jolie'' or ''Le Village'', where he depicts the countryside and villages of the

Morvan The Morvan (historically Morvand from the Latin ''Murvinnum'' 590)Pierre-Henri Billy, ''Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France'', éditions Errance, 640 pages, 2011 , is a mountainous massif lying just to the west of the Côte d'Or escar ...

with great realism. He was also the author of historical novels (''L'Abbaye-Vézelay au XIIe siècle'', ''La mort de Bibracte''), novels of manners (''Le Péché de la Vierge'', ''La Vénus rustique'') and training novels fed with autobiographical elements (''L'Héritage'', ''Le Chant du coq''). He was awarded the

prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine ''La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

in 1918 for ''Le Serviteur'', in which he pays homage to his father. His interest in religious music was reflected in a novel (''Les Grandes Orgues'') and by a theoretical reference work (''L'Orgue, ses éléments, son histoire, son esthétique'') written in collaboration with Alexandre Eugène Cellier. In 1925 he was commissioned to prepare the edition of the "Journal" of

Jules Renard Pierre-Jules Renard (; 22 February 1864 – 22 May 1910) was a French author and member of the Académie Goncourt, most famous for the works ''Poil de carotte'' (Carrot Top, 1894) and ''Les Histoires Naturelles'' (Nature Stories, 1896). Among ...

, of which he had been a friend and a disciple at the beginning. He collaborated with numerous journals such as the ''

Mercure de France The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was published f ...

'' and the '' NRF''. Although he went to Paris, where he frequented Charles-Louis Philippe,

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

and

Paul Léautaud Paul Léautaud (18 January 1872 – 22 February 1956) was a French writer and theater critic for ''Mercure de France'', signing his often caustic reviews with the pseudonym Maurice Boissard. Life He was born in Paris. Abandoned by his mother, ...

, he was still very attached to his small native town. Lormes built a bust in his memory in front of the house where he spent his childhood. He left several unpublished manuscripts. The first volume of his "Journal" (written from 1926 to 1941) was published in 2009.

Works

;Poetry *1904: ''Horizons et coins du Morvan'', Paris Tales and short stories *1906: ''Pas-comme-les-autres'' *1907: ''Les Manigants'' *1910: ''Robes noires'' *1911: ''Les Sports aux champs'' *1913: ''Sous d'humbles toits'' *1917: ''La Guerre sur le hameau'' *1920: ''Sous les marronniers en fleurs'' *1999: ''Vieilles images d'un canton de France'' ;Novels *1910: ''La Bancale'' *1912: ''Juliette la jolie'' *1914: ''L'Héritage'' *1918: ''Le Serviteur'',

Prix Femina The Prix Femina is a French literary prize created in 1904 by 22 writers for the magazine ''La Vie heureuse'' (today known as '' Femina''). The prize is decided each year by an exclusively female jury. They reward French-language works written ...

*1918: ''L'Eclaircie'' *1919: ''Le Village'', Prix Jean Revel *1919: ''Le Petit'' *1920: ''Le Bélier, la brebis et le mouton'' *1922: ''Les Rustres'' *1923: ''Le Chant du coq'' *1914: ''Le Péché de la Vierge'' *1925: ''Les Grandes Orgues'' *1925: ''La Cornemuse de Saulieu'' *1926: ''La Vénus rustique'' *1926: ''Dondon Juan'' *1927: ''La maison d'Annike'' *1927: ''Le Taureau et les bœufs'' *1927: ''L'Abbaye - Vézelay au XIIe siècle'' *1928: ''L'Eté de la Saint Martin'' *1929: ''L'Orage d'hiver'' *1930: ''La mort de Bibracte'' *1931: ''Le Sergent Valentin'' *1937: ''Monsieur Ildefonse'' *1938: ''Le Sabreur'' *1981: ''Les Parsonniers'' ;Literary studies *1909: ''Jules Renard et son œuvre'' *1909: ''Gustave Flaubert'' *1926: ''J.-K. Huysmans. Du naturalisme littéraire au naturalisme mystique'' *1929: ''Charles-Louis Philippe. Son œuvre'' *1930: ''Jules Renard (1864–1910). Son œuvre'' *1945: ''Nos paysans d'après Jules Renard, précédé de Jules Renard en Nivernais'' ;Musicology *1927: ''Les noëls français'' *1930: ''Les Maîtrises et la musique de chœur'' *1933: ''L'Orgue. Ses éléments, son histoire, son esthétique'' (in collab. with Alexandre Cellier) ;Trivia *1941: ''P.-J. Proudhon, socialiste national (1809–1865)'' *1944: ''Collines et buttes parisiennes'' *1994: ''Correspondances avec André Gide et Romain Rolland'' *2009: ''Journal - tome I - 1926-1929'' (éditions du Pas de l'Âne, Autun)

Bibliography

Jules Bertaut Jules Bertaut (28 March 1877 – 7 October 1959) was a French writer, historian and lecturer. He was awarded the grand prix de littérature de la SGDL in 1959 for all his work, the year he died. Works Selected works: *1900: ''Secrets d'un ...

, ''Le roman nouveau'' (Paris, Renaissance du Livre, 1920) * André Billy, ''La terrasse du Luxembourg'' (Paris, Arthème

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, 1945) * , ''Pages choisies d'Henri Bachelin'' (Moulins, Crépin-Leblond, 1948) *

René Dumesnil René Dumesnil (19 June 1879 – 24 December 1967) was a French physician, literary critic and musicologist. Dumesnil studied literature at the Sorbonne and became a literary critic. Then he was music critic for ''Le Mercure de France'' and '' ...

, Préface à l'édition définitive du ''Serviteur'' (

, 1944) * , ''Henri Bachelin : l’éveil, la réussite, l’isolement'' (Vents du Morvan, n°32, summer 2009) * , ''Henri Bachelin, poète et romancier du Morvan'' (lecture given in 1943 and published in ''L'Horizon de pourpre'', n°18, 2000) * André Pasquet, ''Deux romanciers morvandiaux : Henri Bachelin - Le marquis de Montmorillon'' (Autun, Impr. Taverne & Chandioux, 1939) * , ''Henri Bachelin ou le triomphe de l'oubli'' (Académie du Morvan, n°14, 1981) * Jean-François Vacquer, ''À la découverte d'Henri Bachelin'' (Association H. Bachelin, 1996) * Jean-François Vacquer, ''Le Morvan vu par Henri Bachelin'' (Académie du Morvan, n° 46-47, 1999) * ''L'Horizon de pourpre'', bulletin semestriel de l'Association Henri Bachelin (50 issues published from 1991 to 2016).

External links

Henri Bacheli, ''l’éveil, la réussite, l’isolement''
on Association Henri Bachelin

on Académie du Morvan

on ' (7 November 2013)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachelin, Henri 1879 births People from Nièvre 1941 deaths 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French novelists French male short story writers French short story writers Prix Femina winners