author
René Gillouin
1881–1971
A French essayist, critic, and journalist from a Protestant background, he wrote on literature, politics, and public life in the first half of the 20th century. His work is also remembered for its strongly traditionalist and pro-Pétain positions, which make him a controversial figure today.
1 Audiobook
La Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles
by René Gillouin
About the author
Born in Aouste-sur-Sye in 1881, René Gillouin was a French writer, literary critic, journalist, and political thinker. He came from a Protestant family and built a career as a public intellectual, publishing essays and commentary on literature, culture, and national life.
Gillouin wrote across several genres, but he is chiefly associated with conservative and traditionalist ideas. During the Vichy years he was closely identified with support for Marshal Pétain, and that political stance has shaped how he is viewed in later histories of French intellectual life.
He died in Paris in 1971. For readers coming to his books now, he stands as a figure of both literary interest and historical controversy: an engaged man of letters whose work reflects some of the sharp ideological conflicts of modern France.