Marcel Proust

Born near Paris on July 10, 1871, he grew up in a well-to-do family and suffered from chronic asthma from childhood. Alongside his work as a novelist, he also wrote criticism and essays, and his sharp eye for society helped shape the rich social world of his fiction.

His masterpiece, À la recherche du temps perdu—known in English as In Search of Lost Time—was published in seven volumes between 1913 and 1927, with the final volumes appearing after his death. The novel draws on personal experience but transforms it into a vast exploration of memory, time, love, art, and the fragile rituals of everyday life.

He died in Paris on November 18, 1922, at age 51. Today he is widely regarded as one of the essential writers of the 20th century, admired for the depth of his psychological insight and for creating a literary world that feels both deeply personal and astonishingly universal.