born Feb. 20, 1888, Paris, France
died July 5, 1948, Neuilly-sur-Seine
French novelist and polemical writer.
One of the most original and independent Roman Catholic writers of his time and a man of humour and humanity, he abhorred materialism and compromise with evil. His masterpiece, The Diary of a Country Priest (1936), is the story of a young priest's war against sin. Dialogues of the Carmelites (1949), a screenplay about 16 nuns martyred during the French Revolution, was the basis for an opera by Francis Poulenc (1957).