Gide, André

Gide, André (äNdrā` zhēd), 1869–1951, French writer. He established a reputation as an unconventional novelist with The Immoralist (1902, tr. 1930), a partly autobiographical work in which he portrays a young man contravening ordinary moral standards in his search for self-fulfillment. In this and other major novels, including Strait Is the Gate (1909, tr. 1924), Lafcadio's Adventures (1914, tr. 1927), and The Counterfeiters (1926, tr. 1927), Gide shows individuals seeking out their own natures, which may be at conflict with prevailing ethical concepts. Raised as a Protestant, Gide became a leader of French liberal thought and was one of the founders (1909) of the influential Nouvelle Revue française. He was controversial for his frank defense of homosexuality and for his espousal of Communism and his subsequent disavowal of it after a visit to the Soviet Union. His voluminous writings, which include plays, stories, and essays, show great diversity of subjects and literary techniques. His use of myth to embody his thought is evident in such early satirical tales as Prometheus Misbound (1899, tr. 1933). His Travels in the Congo (1927, tr. 1929) and Retour du Tchad (1928) helped bring about reform of French colonial policy in Africa. In 1947 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Bibliography

See his autobiography, If It Die (tr. 1935, repr. 1957), and his journals (1889–1949), tr. and ed. by J. O'Brien (4 vol., 1947–51); studies by J. O'Brien (1953), J. Hytier (tr., 1967), V. Rossi (1967), G. D. Painter (rev. ed. 1968), A. J. Guérard (2d ed. 1969), and K. Mann (1978).

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Gide, André (-Paul-Guillaume)

André Gide, oil painting by P.A. Laurens, 1924; in the National Museum of Modern Art, Paris.

(credit: © A.D.A.G.P. 1970; photograph, Giraudon/Art Resource, New York)

(born Nov. 22, 1869, Paris, France—died Feb. 19, 1951, Paris) French writer. The son of a law professor, Gide began writing at an early age. His early prose poem Fruits of the Earth (1897) reflects his increasing awareness of his homosexuality. The novellas The Immoralist (1902) and Strait Is the Gate (1909) showed his mastery of classical construction, and Lafcadio's Adventures displayed his gift for mordant satire. In 1908 he cofounded La Nouvelle Revue Française, the literary review that would unite progressive French writers for 30 years. The autobiographical If It Die… (1924) is among the great works of confessional literature. Corydon (1924), a defense of homosexuality, was violently attacked. The Counterfeiters (1926) is his most complex novel. He become a champion of society's victims and outcasts and was for a time attracted to communism; with the outbreak of World War II he gained a greater appreciation for tradition. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1947.