Henri Fauconnier (26 February 1879 – 14 April 1973) was a French writer, known mainly for his novel ''Malaisie'', which won the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

in 1930. He was part of the Groupe de Barbezieux.

Family

Fauconnier was born at the Villa Musset

Barbezieux Barbezieux-Saint-Hilaire () is a commune in the Charente department, Southwestern France. The commune was formed in 1973 by the merger of the former communes Barbezieux and Saint-Hilaire.Anna Haviland of Haviland porcelain. Haviland had arranged the 1874 marriage between the pair after she had married George Boutelleau, Barbezilien poet, playwright and novelist (his family produced and promoted the brandy butter Charente). Fauconnier was the third of six children. His siblings included Genevieve Fauconnier (1886–1969), herself an award-winning writer who received 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 1933. He later sired his own son, Bernard.

Biography

In Barbezieux

In a cultured, artistic Catholic family of six children, Fauconnier lived very freely with his siblings, cousins and friends in the garden and cellars of Musset. His friend Jacques Boutelleau (who would later be known under the pen name Jacques Chardonne following the publication of ''The Epithalame'' in 1921) came every day. They published a newspaper, and dramas were played on the castle square with text and music written by Fauconnier. In 1901, Fauconnier's father died following a long illness, and Fauconnier left Bordeaux for England, where he taught French music for two years in the small college of Wells House. There, a journal article drew his attention, suggesting there was a fortune to make in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

by planting

sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is ...

. The idea took shape: if he wanted to write, he must first become a man of leisure. The easiest way to become a man of leisure would be to first make a fortune.

Malaysia

He left

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

on 10 March 1905. On a stopover in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, a month later, he decided to leave for the

rubber plantations of

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, which seemed more promising. He got an internship at his expense to a planter Klang near

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

so that he could learn the craft and the two essential languages,

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

. In August, he discovered the location where he would eventually open his own plantation, in fertile land located on the distant hills beyond the

Selangor River The Selangor River ( ms, Sungai Selangor) is a major river in Selangor, Malaysia. It runs from Kuala Kubu Bharu in the east and empties into the Straits of Malacca at Kuala Selangor in the west. Towns along the river basin * Peretak, Hulu Selango ...

. He obtained a grant of and settled in

Rantau Panjang Rantau Panjang ( Jawi: رنتاو ڤنجڠ) (Thai: รันเตาปันจัง) is a daerah (subdistrict/commune) and also a parliamentary constituency in Pasir Mas District, Kelantan, Malaysia. Geography Rantau Panjang is located near ...

in early 1906, when he built his first "Maison des Palmes". He loved all people, places, landscapes, hard work, the climate, life and 'la vie'. His mother mobilizes funds for this rich uncle to "give" her younger sisters. Thanks to these 20,000 francs, and the funds that his friend Jacques puts into his business, he was able to begin planting. In 1908, he founded at

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

the "Plantation Fauconnier & Posth", with the assistance of the banker Adrian Hallet. He converted all he had in stocks and founder shares. Some friends joined the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

to help expand its plantations. His grew wealthy with a doubling in the price of rubber in two years and the tripling of the value of its shares in the single year 1910. He was then chief of the Hallet plantation group, in the Far East (

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

and

). In 1911, on an idea of Hallet, he sent a few bags of seeds of

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...

''(

Elaeis guineensis ''Elaeis guineensis'' is a species of palm commonly just called oil palm but also sometimes African oil palm or macaw-fat. It is the principal source of palm oil. It is native to west and southwest Africa, specifically the area between Angola an ...

)'' from Sumatra to Malaysia which would grow into the vast plantations of Malaysia. He established Tennamaram near

, the first plantation of palm oil from Malaysia. After several visits to Malaysia, his family joined him there to settle. But, he felt that a page in his life had turned: material success was assured, and it had only been a means to an end. Keeping an eye on the plantation, he arranged to delegate his powers so that he might finally devote himself to writing.

World War I and marriage

But nobody expected

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Fauconnier married Madeleine Meslier, the sister of a planter who was a childhood friend of Barbezieux, but refused the French Consul's request that he remain where he was to ensure the continued production of rubber. Instead, he enlisted with the other French men at the plantation. After a few months in a depot of

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a communes of France, commune in the Dordogne departments of France, department, in the administrative regions of France, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux i ...

(a place of prevailing squalor, stupidity, and military negligence), he arrived where he would remain as second class in most major battles except for two periods: first, for training officer school at

Mourmelon-le-Grand Mourmelon-le-Grand () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Population Camp de Châlons The ''camp de Châlons'', also known as ''camp de Mourmelon'', is a military camp of circa 10,000 hectares near Mourmelon-le-Grand ...

in late 1916, and, second, for

leave Leave may refer to: * Permission (disambiguation) ** Permitted absence from work *** Leave of absence, a period of time that one is to be away from one's primary job while maintaining the status of employee *** Annual leave, allowance of time away ...

in Malaysia after his marriage in

in March 1917. From there he left for a few months to

with the

Annamese The Vietnamese people ( vi, người Việt, lit=Viet people) or Kinh people ( vi, người Kinh) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to modern-day Northern Vietnam and Southern China (Jing Islands, Dongxing, Guangxi). The native lang ...

sharpshooters to attend Auguste Chevallier. In autumn 1917, he was reclaimed by France as an interpreter for the British army. He left his wife in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

, pregnant and sick. (When she returned with her daughter in April 1918, the ship which carried them in the Mediterranean was torpedoed.) Throughout the war, he cursed the Europeans and dreamed of being in Malaysia. The letters he wrote his wife in this period were published in 1998 as ''Letters to Madeleine, 1914-1918''.

In Tunisia

After he was discharged, he left his wife in Switzerland, near

Chardonne Chardonne is a municipality in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. History Chardonne is first mentioned in 1001 as ''Cardona''. Geography Chardonne has an area, , of . Of this area, or 46.9% is use ...

, as she was threatened with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. Then he left to return to the plantations, which needed his help to expand Hallet. Through 1928, he made several inspection trips to Malaysia and Indochina, bound first by a long rubber crisis. Then, to ensure a more stable income, he accepted a position as director of several companies of tropical plantations. Liking neither the city of Paris nor the climate of France, he settled in Rades, near

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

, in 1925. This was, for him, a compromise of remoteness and climate between Malaysia and the Charente. He occupied "The Terrace", a large low house in Arabic style surrounded by a huge garden.

''Malaisie'' and the Prix Goncourt

In 1931, Jean Paulhan offered to publish Fauconnier's book on Malaysia, enthusiastic about the chapter Fauconnier had displayed. ''Malaisie'', published by Stock, proved very popular and highly respected. But the celebrity that attended on its publication and his winning of the

did not change Fauconnier. He kept to his usual practices. Being a writer, was not a priority for him; he saw himself as a "

man of letters An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

", and his letters show all his correspondent qualities. But he did enjoy his correspondences with other writers, including John Amrouche,

Georges Bernanos Louis Émile Clément Georges Bernanos (; 20 February 1888 – 5 July 1948) was a French author, and a soldier in World War I. A Catholic with monarchist leanings, he was critical of elitist thought and was opposed to what he identified as defea ...

Henri Bosco Henri Bosco (16 November 1888 – 4 May 1976) was a French writer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Life Bosco was born in Avignon, Vaucluse into a family of Provençal, Ligurian and Piedmontese origin. Through ...

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the su ...

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known mononymously as Colette, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaking world for her ...

Lucie Delarue-Mardrus Lucie Delarue-Mardrus (3 November 1874 in Honfleur – 26 April 1945 ) was a French journalist, poet, novelist, sculptor, historian and designer. She was a prolific writer, who produced more than 70 books in her lifetime. In France, she is ...

, Alfred Fabre-Luce,

Paul Géraldy Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

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 Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, to the advent o ...

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

Jean Guéhenno Jean Guéhenno born Marcel-Jules-Marie Guéhenno (25 March 1890 – 22 September 1978) was a French essayist, writer and literary critic. Life and career Jean Guéhenno, writer and educator, was a prominent contributor to the NRF. He was edito ...

, A. Guibert, Henri de Keyserling, Roger Martin du Gard,

Maurice Maeterlinck Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...

Jean Paulhan Jean Paulhan (2 December 1884 – 9 October 1968) was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine ''Nouvelle Revue Française'' (NRF) from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member (Seat 6, 1963–68 ...

Romain Rolland Romain Rolland (; 29 January 1866 – 30 December 1944) was a French dramatist, novelist, essayist, art historian and Mysticism, mystic who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1915 "as a tribute to the lofty idealism of his literary pro ...

, Jean Schlumberger, and

Robert Stiller Robert Reuven Stiller (25 January 1928 – 10 December 2016) was a Polish polyglot, writer, poet, translator, and editor. Life Robert Stiller was born in Warsaw, Poland, to Polish parents and spent his early childhood in what is now Belarus. His f ...

. Fauconnier was not the only successful writer in his family; in 1933, the

was awarded to his sister Genevieve for her best-selling novel ''Claude''. When she received the reward, Fauconnier and Genevieve Fauconnier became the only brother and sister in France to have ever received the Prix Goncourt and Prix Femina awards.

Visions

Fauconnier had hated the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...

: he knew that Europe took the huge risk of repeating the vile war of 1914-18. He did not suffer unduly during the Depression of the 1930s because of his resources in Malaysia, but he was troubled deeply by the rise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in Italy, the conquest of

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

, and the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. In October 1938, he published anonymously a collection ''New Visions'' discussing some of his past life (it included "The Lady", "Christmas Malay", "Indian Dravidian", "Barbara", "The Asphodèles" and "Vision"). The following summer, fearing the ambitions of

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

, he took his family from "the Terrace" to settle in

Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

World War II and the last years

Life was not easy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His children grew up and, despite reservations, he repatriated to France. He was being gradually cut off from his resources in Belgium, England, Malaysia, and Indochina. He had neither the desire nor the courage to write, but preferred instead to listen to the

B.B.C. #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the ...

The postwar period was also difficult, but in 1947 he agreed to be leader of the "Group of Federalists Writers" for the "United States of Europe". It was the hope of the group that, in reconciling the people of Europe, they might prevent its governments from claiming national missions. In 1957, he was offered a trip to Malaysia for nostalgia's sake by a society of plantations, which had included the Socfin Rivaud Group. Afterwards, he settled into a quiet retirement during which he remained busy playing tennis and chess, gardening and swimming, dreaming of an opportunity to resume writing a sequel to ''Malaisie'' and continuing his correspondence. He divided his time between the

Côte d'Azur The French Riviera (known in French as the ; oc, Còsta d'Azur ; literal translation " Azure Coast") is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is usually considered to extend fro ...

, Paris (where his children and grandchildren lived), and the

. In April 1973, Fauconnier died in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and was buried in Barbezieux. His only wish was that Musset be kept in the family.

Works

* ''Malasia'' Artes Gráficas Larra, 1931 * ''Visions'' Stock (Delamain et Boutelleau), 1938 * ''Lettres à Madeleine: 1914-1919'', Stock, 1998,

English translations

* ''Malaisie'', Translated by Eric Sutton, The Macmillan company, 1931 * ''The Soul of Malaya'' Translated by Eric Sutton E. Mathews and Marrot, 1931

References

External links

Sources

* Bernard Fauconnier, ''La fascinante existence d'Henri Fauconnier : Prix Goncourt 1930'', préface Jean-Loup Avril, Editions G.D., Saint Malo, 2004. * Annie David, interview de Bernard Fauconnier, son of Henri, ''Trente ans après la mort d'Henri Fauconnier, son fils Bernard évoque sa vie exotique et leurs relations houleuses...'' . * Véronique Bonnet-Nora, ''La Maison des Palmes'', 2003, documentaire de 50 minutes. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fauconnier, Henri 1879 births 1973 deaths People from Charente 20th-century French novelists Writers from Nouvelle-Aquitaine French male novelists 20th-century French male writers Prix Goncourt winners