author
Paul Claudel
1868–1955
A major voice in French literature, he brought poetry, theater, and spiritual intensity together in works that still feel bold and theatrical. He also spent much of his life in diplomacy, giving his writing an unusually wide view of the world.
6 Audiobooks
Le père humilié: Drame en quatre actes
by Paul Claudel
L'otage: Drame en trois actes
by Paul Claudel
Le pain dur: Drame en trois actes
by Paul Claudel
The East I know
by Paul Claudel
Tête-d'Or: A play in three acts
by Paul Claudel
Die Musen: Eine Ode
by Paul Claudel
About the author
Born in Villeneuve-sur-Fère, France, in 1868, Paul Claudel became known as a poet, playwright, essayist, and diplomat. He is often remembered as one of the strongest Catholic literary voices in early 20th-century France, and his work is closely tied to a powerful religious awakening he experienced as a teenager.
Alongside his literary career, Claudel served the French government abroad for many years. That life in diplomacy took him to postings in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and the sense of travel, ceremony, conflict, and spiritual searching in his writing reflects that broad experience. He is especially known for verse dramas such as The Tidings Brought to Mary and The Satin Slipper.
Claudel died in Paris in 1955. He was also the brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel, and the two remain one of the most remarkable sibling pairs in French cultural history.