Mauriac, François

(1885–1970)

   Novelist.

   Mauriac was born in Bordeaux, France, and was educated in Bordeaux and Paris. He was a devout Roman Catholic and his novels reflected his acute moral and religious seriousness. He used to maintain that the justification for writing fiction was to throw light on the evil that lurks in even the noblest of human beings and, conversely, to show the sanctity which can be found in the most loathsome and pitiable. Among his many books were Le Noeud de Vipères and La Pharisienne. During the occupation of France, he worked tirelessly and with immense courage against the Nazis. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1952.

   J.E. Flower and B.C. Swift (eds), François Mauriac: Visions and Reappraisals (1989);

   M.F. Moloney, François Mauriac: A Critical Study (1958).