Romains, Jules (zhül rômăN`), 1885–1972, French writer, whose original name was Louis Farigoule. A brilliant student of philosophy, he became known as the chief exponent of unanimism, a literary theory positing the collective spirit or personality, e.g., the spirit of a city. This concept pervades an early collection of his poems, La Vie unanime (1908). Romains's principal work is the novel cycle Men of Good Will (27 vol., 1932–46; tr. 14 vol., 1933–46), which gives an intricate and panoramic view of French life from 1908 to 1933. Among his other novels are Mort de quelqu'un (1911; tr. The Death of a Nobody, 1914) and Les Copains (1913; tr. The Boys in the Back Room, 1937). His plays, considered masterpieces of French theater, include Cromedeyre-le-Vieil (1920), in which an isolated village returns to primitive ways, and the satirical farce Knock; ou, Le Triomphe de la médecine (1923; tr. Doctor Knock, 1925).

Bibliography

See study by D. Boak (1974).

Romains, Jules

orig. Louis-Henri-Jean Farigoule

(born Aug. 26, 1885, Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, France—died Aug. 14, 1972, Paris) French novelist, dramatist, and poet. A teacher of philosophy, Romains first became known as a poet and as founder (c. 1908–11), with Georges Chennevière, of the literary movement Unanimisme, which combined belief in universal brotherhood with the psychological concept of group consciousness. His most popular work was the comedy Knock (1923), a satire on doctors. His masterpiece, Men of Good Will, 27 vol. (1932–46), is a vast novel cycle attempting to recreate the spirit of French society from 1908 to 1933 and exemplifying the Unanimiste interest in collective life.