Claude Farrère (), pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone (; 27 April 1876, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

– 21 June 1957, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

), was a French Navy officer and writer. Many of his novels are based in exotic locations such as

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

, or

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

. One of his novels, ''Les Civilisés'', about life in French colonial Indochina, won the third

Prix Goncourt The 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 of only 10 euros, but resul ...

for 1905. He was elected to a chair at the

Académie Française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

on 26 March 1935, in competition with

Paul Claudel Paul Claudel (; 6 August 1868 – 23 February 1955) was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism. Early lif ...

, partly thanks to lobbying efforts by Pierre Benoit.

Biography

Initially, Claude Farrère had followed his father, an infantry colonel who served in the French colonies: He was admitted to the French Naval Academy in 1894; was made lieutenant in 1906; and was promoted to captain in 1918. He resigned the next year to concentrate on his writing career. Claude Farrère was a friend and was partly mentored by two other famous French writers of this period, i.e.

Pierre Louÿs Pierre-Félix Louÿs (; 10 December 1870 – 4 June 1925) was a Belgian poet and writer, most renowned for lesbian and classical themes in some of his writings. He is known as a writer who sought to "express pagan sensuality with stylistic perf ...

and

Pierre Loti Pierre Loti (; pseudonym of Louis Marie-Julien Viaud ; 14 January 1850 – 10 June 1923) was a French naval officer and novelist, known for his exotic novels and short stories.This article is derived largely from the ''Encyclopædia Britannica Ele ...

, the latter having been as well a former Navy officer and a writer of books based in overseas countries and cultures. Farrère was a prolific writer, and many of his books are based on his overseas travels and on exotic cultures, especially in Asia, the Orient and North Africa, partly based on his travels when he was an officer with the French Navy. His works have now largely fallen from favour, even among French readers, although some of his most famous books, such as ''Fumée d'opium'', ''Les Civilisés'', ''La Bataille'' or ''Les hommes nouveaux'' have been republished in France at the end of the 20th century and the early 21st century. One anecdotal and indirect reference to Claude Farrère is the perfume "

Mitsouko Mitsouko is a perfume by French perfume and cosmetics house Guerlain, created by Jacques Guerlain and first introduced in 1919. Its name is derived from the French transliteration of a Japanese female personal name Mitsuko. It is a fruity c ...

" created by the long-lived perfumer Jacques

Guerlain Guerlain () is a French perfume, cosmetics, and skincare house which is among the oldest in the world. Many traditional Guerlain fragrances are characterized by a common olfactory accord known as the "". The house was founded in Paris in 1828 b ...

, with whom Claude Farrère was a friend. Mitsouko's story is found in Farrère's novel ''La Bataille'' (The Battle, 1909), which is a romance based upon Japan's modernization and westernization during the

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

and upon the 1905 naval

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known in Japan as the , was the final naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 27–28 May 1905 in the Tsushima Strait. A devastating defeat for the Imperial Russian Navy, the ...

when the Imperial Japanese Navy defeated the Russian Imperial Navy.

was a beautiful Japanese woman whose name meant both 'honeycomb' and 'mystery', who was married to a noble Japanese Navy officer and had an ill-fated love affair with an English officer. ''La Bataille'' was translated in several foreign languages, including Serbian by Veljko M. Milićević under the title ''Boj'' (The Battle), published in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

in 1912. Another Serbian author,

Jelena Skerlić Jelena, also written Yelena and Elena, is a Slavic given name. The name is a Slavicized form of the Greek name Helena, and it signifies the word ‘Greek’ (Ελληνικά) meaning bright, light. Helena comes from Helios meaning shining and su ...

translated Farrère's ''Dix-sept histoires de marins'' (1914) under the title ''Iz mornarskog života: priče'' also published in Sarajevo in 1920. Farrère's name has also been given to "Klod Farer Caddesi" (as spelled in Turkish), a street in Sultanahmet,

for his favourable description of

Turkish culture The culture of Turkey () or the Turkish culture () includes both the national culture and local cultures. Currently, Turkey has various local cultures. Things such as music, folk dance, or kebap variety may be used to identify a local area. Tur ...

and

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Turkey * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic lang ...

Orhan Pamuk Ferit Orhan Pamuk (born 7 June 1952; ) is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. One of Turkey's most prominent novelists, he has sold over 13 million books in 63 languages, making him ...

's publisher, İletişim Publishing, is situated on this street A number of Farrère's novels were translated and published under his real name, Frédéric-Charles Bargone. On 6 May 1932, at the opening of a Paris book fair at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, Farrère was in conversation with French President

Paul Doumer Joseph Athanase Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (; 22 March 18577 May 1932), was a French politician who served as the President of France from June 1931 until his assassination in May 1932. He is described as "the Father of French Indochin ...

when several shots were fired by

Paul Gorguloff Paul Gorguloff, originally Pavel Timofeyevich Gorgulov (; June 29, 1895 – September 14, 1932), was a Russian émigré and assassin who shot and fatally wounded the French President Paul Doumer at a book fair at the Hôtel Salomon ...

, a Russian émigré. Doumer was fatally wounded. Farrère wrestled with the assassin until the police arrived. As a traditionalist conservative intellectual, he sympathized with the Rebel faction and the

Francoist dictatorship Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

in Spain, and he also was one of the French Academy members that actively supported the collaborationist

Vichy Regime Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

, helping to legitimize

Marshal Pétain Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated of ...

's authority. Farrère denounced the “bad shepherds” that, according to him, led prewar French society to “decadence”.

Bibliography

*''Le Cyclone'' (1902) *''Fumée d'opium'' (1904, ''Black Opium''), *''Les Civilisés'' (1905, "The Civilized Ones"), *''L'homme qui assassina'' (1906, "The Man Who Killed") *''Pour vaincre la mer'' (1906) *''Mademoiselle Dax, jeune fille'' (1907) *''Trois hommes et deux femmes'' (1909) *''La Bataille'' (1909, "The Battle") *''Les Petites Alliées'' (1910), *''Thomas l'Agnelet'' (1911, "Thomas the Lambkin"), *''La maison des hommes vivants'' (1911, "The House of Secrets"), *''Fin de Turquie'' (1913) *''Dix-sept histoires de marins'' (1914) *''Quatorze histoires de soldats'' (1916) *''La veille d'armes'' (play, 1917, with Lucien Népoty) *''La dernière déesse'' (1920, "The Last Goddess") *''Les condamnés à mort'' (1920, "Useless Hands") *''Roxelane'' (1920) *''La vieille histoire'' (1920) *''Bêtes et gens qui s'aimèrent'' (1920) *''Croquis d'Extrême-Orient'' (1921) *''L'extraordinaire aventure d'Achmet Pacha Djemaleddine'' (1921) *''Contes d'Outre-Mer et d'autres mondes'' (1921) *''Les Hommes nouveaux'' (1922, "New Men") *''Stamboul'' (1922) *''Lyautey l'Africain'' (1922) *''Histoires de très loin et d'assez près'' (1923) *''Trois histoires d'ailleurs'' (1923) *''Mes voyages: La promenade d'Extrême-Orient'' (vol. 1, 1924), *''Combats et batailles sur mer'' (1925, with Commandant Chack) *''Une aventure amoureuse de Monsieur de Tourville'' (1925) *''Une jeune fille voyagea'' (1925) *''L'Afrique du Nord'' (1925) *''Mes voyages: En Méditerranée'' (vol. 2, 1926) *''Le dernier dieu'' (1926) *''Cent millions d'or'' (1927) *''Princesses créoles'' (1927 with Auguste Nemours) *''La nuit en mer'' (A night at sea), (Ed. Ernest Flammarion, Paris, 1928) *''L'autre côté'' (1928) *''La porte dérobée'' (1929) *''La marche funèbre'' (1929) *''Loti'' (1929) *''Loti et le chef'' (1930) *''Shahrâ sultane et la mer'' (1931) *''L'Atlantique en rond'' (1932) *''Deux combats navals, 1914'' (1932) *''Sur mer, 1914'' (1933) *''Les quatre dames d'Angora'' (1933) *''La quadrille des mers de Chine'' (1933) *''Histoire de la Marine française'' (1934) *''L'Inde perdue'' (1935), *''Sillages, Méditerranée et navires'' (1936) *''L'homme qui était trop grand'' (1936, with P. Benoît) *''Visite aux Espagnols'' (1937) *''Les forces spirituelles de l'Orient'' (1937) *''Le grand drame de l'Asie'' (1938) *''Les Imaginaires'' (1938) *''La onzième heure'' (1940) *''L'homme seul'' (1942) *''Fern-Errol'' (1943) *''La seconde porte'' (1945) *''La gueule du lion'' (1946) *''La garde aux portes de l'Asie'' (1946) *''La sonate héroïque'' (1947) *''Escales d'Asie'' (1947) *''Job, siècle XX'' (1949) *''La sonate tragique'' (1950) *''Je suis marin'' (1951) *''La dernière porte'' (1951) *''Le Traître'' (1952) *''La sonate à la mer'' (1952) *''L'élection sentimentale'' (1952) *''Les petites cousines'' (1953) *''Mon ami Pierre Louïs'' (1953) *''Jean-Baptise Colbert'' (1954) *''Le juge assassin'' (1954) *''Lyautey créateur'' (1955)

Filmography

*''L'homme qui assassina'', directed by Henri Andréani (Silent, 1913, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') *', directed by

Lupu Pick Lupu Pick (2 January 1886 – 7 March 1931) was a Romanian-German actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter of the silent era. He appeared in 50 films between 1910 and 1928. Born in Romania, Pick's father was a Jewish Austrian,Hans ...

(Silent, 1918, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') *'' The Right to Love'', directed by

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and Film producer, producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940 ...

(Silent, 1920, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') *'', directed by

Émile-Bernard Donatien Émile-Bernard Donatien (1887–1955) was a French actor, writer, set designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also b ...

and (Silent, 1922, based on the novel ''Les Hommes nouveaux'') *'' The Battle'', directed by

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man ...

and (Silent, 1923, based on the novel ''La Bataille'') *''Veille d'armes'', directed by

Jacques de Baroncelli Jacques de Baroncelli (25 June 1881 – 12 January 1951) was a French film director best known for his silent films from 1915 to the late 1930s. He came from a Florentine family who had settled in Provence in the 15th century, occupying a buildi ...

(Silent, 1925, based on the play ''La veille d'armes'') *''

Night Watch Night Watch or Nightwatch may refer to: Being on duty at night * The nighttime shift worked by a security guard (night watchman) * Watchman (law enforcement), organized groups of men to deter criminal activity and provide law enforcement * One of ...

'', directed by

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; ; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)

(Silent, 1928, based on the play ''La veille d'armes'') *''La maison des hommes vivants'', directed by

Marcel Dumont Marcel Dumont (real name Marcel Félix Georges Dumont) (8 June 1885 – 10 February 1951) was a French film director. Filmography * 1920 in film, 1920 : ''Irène'' * 1920 : ''Au-delà des lois humaines'' * 1921 in film, 1921 : ''La Proie (192 ...

and

Gaston Roudès Gaston Roudès (born 24 March 1878, Béziers, Hérault, France; d. 5 November 1958, Villejuif, Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (, "Vale of the Marne") is a department of France located in the Île-de-France region. Named after the river Marne, it ...

(French, 1929, based on the play ''La maison des hommes vivants'') *'' Stamboul'', directed by

Dimitri Buchowetzki Dimitri Buchowetzki (1885–1932), born Dmitry Savelyevych Bukhovecky, was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and actor in Germany, Sweden, United States, United Kingdom, and France. Life and career Initially Buchowetzki studied law. Later h ...

(English, 1931, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') **''

The Man Who Murdered ''The Man Who Murdered'' () is a 1931 German crime drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Conrad Veidt, Trude von Molo and Heinrich George. It is adapted from the 1906 novel ''L'homme qui assassina'' by Claude Farrère. The film's ...

'', directed by

Curtis Bernhardt Curtis Bernhardt (15 April 1899 – 22 February 1981) was a German film director born in Worms, Germany, under the name Kurt Bernhardt. Career He trained as an actor in Germany, and performed on the stage, before starting as a film director in ...

(German, 1931, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') **', directed by

and

Jean Tarride Jean Tarride (1901–1980) was a French actor and film director. He was the brother of the actor Jacques Tarride. Selected filmography Director * ' (1931) * ' (1932) * ''The Yellow Dog (1932 film), The Yellow Dog'' (1932) * ''Étienne (film), Éti ...

(French, 1931, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') **''El hombre que asesinó'', directed by

and Fernando Gomis (Spanish, 1932, based on the novel ''L'homme qui assassina'') *''

The Woman from Monte Carlo ''The Woman from Monte Carlo'' is an American Pre-Code Hollywood, pre-Code film produced by Warner Bros. subsidiary First National Pictures (with the Vitaphone logo) in 1931 and released on January 9, 1932. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and ...

'', directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...

(English, 1932, based on the play ''La veille d'armes'') *''

La Bataille La Bataille () is a former commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the commune Chef-Boutonne.Nicolas Farkas Nicolas Farkas (Marghita, Margitta, Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, July 27, 1890 – New York City, New York, March 22, 1982) was a Hungarian-born cinematographer, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and film director. He is also kno ...

and

Victor Tourjansky Victor Tourjansky ( 4 March 1891 – 13 August 1976), born Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Turzhansky (), was a Russian actor, screenwriter and film director who emigrated after the Russian Revolution (1917), Russian Revolution of 1917. He worked in F ...

(French, 1934, based on the novel ''La Bataille'') **'' The Battle'', directed by

Nicolas Farkas Nicolas Farkas (Marghita, Margitta, Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, July 27, 1890 – New York City, New York, March 22, 1982) was a Hungarian-born cinematographer, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and film director. He is also kno ...

and

(English, 1934, based on the novel ''La Bataille'') *''

Veille d'armes ''Veille d'armes'' ("eve of battle") is a 1935 French drama film directed by Marcel L'Herbier and starring Annabella and Victor Francen. Synopsis 1935. Captain de Corlaix is the respected commander of a French naval cruiser, the ''Alma'', anch ...

'', directed by

Marcel L'Herbier Marcel L'Herbier (; 23 April 1888 – 26 November 1979) was a French filmmaker who achieved prominence as an avant-garde theorist and imaginative practitioner with a series of silent films in the 1920s. His career as a director continued unti ...

(French, 1935, based on the play ''La veille d'armes'') *''

Les Hommes nouveaux ''The New Men'' (French: ''Les Hommes nouveaux'') is a 1936 French drama film written and directed by Marcel L'Herbier and starring Harry Baur, Natalie Paley and Gabriel Signoret. The film was based on the novel of the same title by Claude Farrèr ...

'', directed by

(French, 1936, based on the novel ''Les Hommes nouveaux'') *', directed by

Jean Dréville Jean Dréville (20 September 1906 – 5 March 1997) was a French film director. He directed more than 40 films between 1928 and 1969. Selected filmography * (1928) * '' A Man of Gold'' (1934) * '' The Chess Player'' (1938) * '' White Nigh ...

(French, 1936, based on the novel ''Les Petites Alliées'')

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrere, Claude 1876 births 1957 deaths Military personnel from Lyon 19th-century French novelists 20th-century French novelists French fantasy writers Writers from Lyon Prix Goncourt winners Commanders of the Legion of Honour Members of the Académie Française French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 20th-century French male writers