Montherlant, Henry de

Montherlant, Henry (-Marie-Joseph-Millon) de

(born April 21, 1896, Paris, France—died Sept. 21, 1972, Paris) French novelist and dramatist. Born into a noble family, he wrote stylistically concise works that reflect his own egocentric and autocratic personality. His major work of fiction is a cycle of four novels (1936–39) translated as The Girls, which describes the relationship between a libertine novelist and his adoring female victims. In the 1940s he turned to theatre; his best dramatic works include Malatesta (1946), Port-Royal (1954), and La Guerre civile (1965).