author
Paul Claudel
1868–1955
A major voice in 20th-century French literature, he brought poetry, theater, and spiritual conviction together in sweeping, musical dramas. Alongside his writing, he spent decades in the French diplomatic service, giving his work an unusually global horizon.
6 Audiobooks
L'otage: Drame en trois actes
by Paul Claudel
Le père humilié: Drame en quatre actes
by Paul Claudel
Le pain dur: Drame en trois actes
by Paul Claudel
Tête-d'Or: A play in three acts
by Paul Claudel
The East I know
by Paul Claudel
Die Musen: Eine Ode
by Paul Claudel
About the author
Born in Villeneuve-sur-Fère, France, on August 6, 1868, Paul Claudel became one of the country's best-known poets, playwrights, and essayists. He is often remembered for verse dramas shaped by his Catholic faith, and for the emotional intensity and large imaginative scale of works such as The Tidings Brought to Mary and The Satin Slipper.
Claudel also had a substantial diplomatic career. He entered the French diplomatic service in the 1890s and later served in major posts including Japan and the United States. That combination of literary ambition and public service helped make his writing feel both inward-looking and international at the same time.
He died in Paris on February 23, 1955. Claudel was the brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel, and his name remains closely tied to the cultural and religious debates of modern French literature.