Mauriac, François (fräNswä` mōryäk`), 1885–1970, French writer. Mauriac achieved success in 1922 and 1923 with Le Baiser au lépreux and Genitrix (tr. of both in The Family, 1930). Generally set in or near his native Bordeaux, his novels are imbued with his profound, though nonconformist, Roman Catholicism. His characters exist in a tortured universe; nature is evil and man eternally prone to sin. His major novels are The Desert of Love (1925, tr. 1929), Thérèse (1927, tr. 1928), and Vipers' Tangle (1932, tr. 1933). Other works include The Frontenacs (1933, tr. 1961) and Woman of the Pharisees (1941, tr. 1946); a life of Racine (1928) and of Jesus (1936, tr. 1937); and plays, notably Asmodée (1938, tr. 1939). Also a distinguished essayist, Mauriac became a columnist for Figaro after World War II. Collections of his articles and essays include Journal, 1932–39 (1947, partial tr. Second Thoughts, 1961), Proust's Way (1949, tr. 1950), and Cain, Where Is Your Brother? (tr. 1962). Mauriac received the 1952 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Bibliography

See his memoirs (1959, tr. 1960); study by C. Jenkins (1965).

Mauriac, François

(born Oct. 11, 1885, Bordeaux, France—died Sept. 1, 1970, Paris) French writer. Mauriac grew up in a pious and strict Catholic family, and he subsequently placed at the heart of all his works the soul grappling with the problems of sin, grace, and salvation. He is best known for his austere, psychological novels, including Young Man in Chains (1913); The Kiss to the Leper (1922); Thérèse (1927); Vipers' Tangle (1932), often considered his masterpiece; and A Woman of the Pharisees (1941). He wrote polemical works against totalitarianism and fascism in the 1930s and worked with the Resistance during World War II. In 1952 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.