Jean Schlumberger, by Theo van Rysselberghe

Jean Schlumberger (born Paul Conrad Nikolaus Johann Schlumberger; 26 May 1877 – 25 October 1968) was a French writer, journalist and poet. He was born in

Guebwiller Guebwiller (french: Guebwiller, ; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Gàwiller'' ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Haut-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est currently in north-eastern France. It was a Subprefectures in Fran ...

, Alsace-Lorraine, and 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 ...

Biography

Schlumberger was the son of Paul Schlumberger, the scion of a textile manufacturing family of Alsatian origin, and Marguerite de Witt, the granddaughter of

François Guizot François Pierre Guillaume Guizot (; 4 October 1787 – 12 September 1874) was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848. A conservative liberal who opposed the a ...

. Two of his brothers, Conrad and Marcel, founded the

Schlumberger Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague. Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling compa ...

company. Schlumberger is best known as a writer of novels, plays and books of poetry. He was co-founder (with

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 ...

and

Gaston Gallimard Gaston Gallimard (; 18 January 1881 – 25 December 1975) was a French publisher. He founded ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' in 1908, together with André Gide and Jean Schlumberger (writer), Jean Schlumberger. In 1911 the trio established La N ...

) of the ''

Nouvelle Revue Française ''La Nouvelle Revue Française'' (; "The New French Review") is a literary magazine based in France. In France, it is often referred to as the ''NRF''. History and profile The magazine was founded in 1909 by a group of intellectuals including And ...

'', a French

literary journal A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters ...

. He counted the famous writer

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, , ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 1903 – 17 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist, who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the ''Prix Fem ...

among his friends. His non-fiction, especially his autobiography, ''Éveils'', has been neglected by critics and literary historians. Schlumberger was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

in 1954, together with

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

and Victor E. van Vriesland.

Works

* ''La mort de Sparte'' (The Death of Sparta). This play premièred at the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier in Paris in 1921, and was not well received by the critics or the public. * ''Césaire'', play. * ''Les fils Louverné'', play. * ''Le camarade infidèle'' (The Unfaithful Friend), novel, 1922. * ''Plaisir à Corneille – Promenade Anthologique'', 1936. * ''Saint Saturnin'' (English title: ''The Seventh Age or Saint Saturnin''), 1932. * ''Le lion devenu vieux'' (The Lion Grown Old)

External links

*
Jean Schlumberger – "Le Camarade Infidèle"

References

1877 births 1968 deaths People from Guebwiller People from Alsace-Lorraine French journalists 20th-century French novelists French poets French biographers French male poets French male novelists 20th-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers Male biographers {{france-journalist-stub