Valery Larbaud (29 August 1881 – 2 February 1957) was a French writer and poet.

Life

He was born in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

, the only child of a

pharmacist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in ...

Nicolas Larbaud and Isabelle Bureau des Étivaux. His father died when he was 8, and he was brought up by his mother and aunt. His father had been owner of the '' Vichy Saint-Yorre'' mineral water springs, and the family fortune assured him an easy life. He travelled Europe in style. On luxury liners and the

Orient Express The ''Orient Express'' was a long-distance passenger luxury train service created in 1883 by the Belgian company ''Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits'' (CIWL) that operated until 2009. The train traveled the length of continental Europe, w ...

he carried off the

dandy A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance and personal grooming, refined language and leisurely hobbies. A dandy could be a self-made man both in person and ''persona'', who emulated the aristocratic style of l ...

role, with

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

visits to nurse fragile health. ''Poèmes par un riche amateur'', published in 1908, received

Octave Mirbeau Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau (; 16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still app ...

's vote for ''

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 ...

''. Three years later, his novel '' Fermina Márquez'', inspired by his days as a boarder at Sainte-Barbe-des-Champs at

Fontenay-aux-Roses Fontenay-aux-Roses () is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. In 1880, a girls school was opened in the town. It was one of the most prestigious of Paris and even of whole France in t ...

, had some ''prix Goncourt'' votes in 1911 but did not win; nonetheless, it is still considered to be a minor classic of French literature and one of Larbaud's best known works. He spoke six languages including English, Italian and Spanish. In France he helped translate and popularise

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

, Samuel Butler, and

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

, whose '' Ulysses'' was translated by Auguste Morel (1924–1929) under Larbaud's supervision. At home in Vichy, he saw as friends Charles-Louis Philippe,

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

Léon-Paul Fargue Léon-Paul Fargue (, 4 March 187624 November 1947) was a French poet and essayist. He was born in Paris, France, on rue Coquilliére. As a poet he was noted for his poetry of atmosphere and detail. His work spanned numerous literary movements. ...

and Jean Aubry, his future biographer. An attack of

hemiplegia Hemiparesis, also called unilateral paresis, is the weakness of one entire side of the body ('' hemi-'' means "half"). Hemiplegia, in its most severe form, is the complete paralysis of one entire side of the body. Either hemiparesis or hemiplegia ...

and

aphasia Aphasia, also known as dysphasia, is an impairment in a person's ability to comprehend or formulate language because of dysfunction in specific brain regions. The major causes are stroke and head trauma; prevalence is hard to determine, but aph ...

in 1935 left him paralysed. Having spent his fortune, he had to sell his property and 15,000 book library. Despite his illness, he continued to receive many honorary titles, and in 1952 he was awarded the Grand prix national des Lettres. The '' prix Valery Larbaud'' was created in 1967 by ''L'Association Internationale des Amis de Valery Larbaud'', a group founded to promote the author's work. Past winners of this yearly award include J.M.G. Le Clézio, Jacques Réda,

Emmanuel Carrère Emmanuel Carrère (; born 9 December 1957) is a French author, screenwriter and film director. Life Family Carrère was born into a wealthy family in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. His father, Louis Carrère d'Encausse, is a retired insurance ...

, and Jean Rolin.

Works

* ''Poèmes par un riche amateur'' (1908) as A.O. Barnabooth. * '' Fermina Márquez'' (1911) * ''A.O. Barnabooth'' (1913) * ''Enfantines'' (1918) * ''Beauté, mon beau souci'' (1920) * ''Amants, heureux amants'' (1923) * ''Mon plus secret conseil...'' (1923) * ''Ce Vice impuni, la lecture : domaine anglais'' (1925) * ''Jaune bleu blanc'' (1927) * ''Aux couleurs de Rome'' (1938) * ''Ce Vice impuni, la lecture : domaine français'' (1941) * ''Sous l'invocation de saint Jérôme'' (1946) * ''Chez Chesterton'' * ''Ode à une blanchisseuse''

References

* MOUSLI, Béatrice, "Valery Larbaud", coll. Grandes Biographies, Paris, Pub. Flammarion, 1998, Grand Prix de la Biographie de l’Académie Française 1998. * MOUSLI, Béatrice, "Voyager avec Valery Larbaud", Paris, Pub. La Quinzaine/Louis Vuitton, 2003. * France, Peter (Ed.) (1995). ''The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French.'' Oxford: Clarendon Press. .

External links

* * * *
Works by Valery Larbaud
(public domain in Canada) * Inventory and analysis of Valery Larbaud's non-novelistic writing
Université McGill: le roman selon les romanciers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larbaud, Valery 1881 births 1957 deaths People from Vichy Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni French male poets 20th-century French poets 20th-century French male writers