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).