Romain Rolland: biography, personal life, creativity, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Romain Rolland was a popular French writer, musicologist and public figure who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1915 he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was well known in the Soviet Union, even has the status of a foreign honorary member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. One of his most famous works is the 10-volume novel-river "Jean-Christophe".

Childhood and youth

Romain Rolland was born in the small French town of Clamcy in 1866. His father was a notary. In 1881, the whole family moved to Paris, where the hero of our article entered the Lyceum Louis the Great, and then the Ecole Normale High School.

After graduation, Romain Rolland went to Italy for two years to study the biography and work of great composers, this topic fascinated him throughout his life, besides, he paid special attention to the visual arts.

From childhood, he fell in love with playing the piano, continued to seriously studymusic and in his student years, for this he even deliberately chose the history of music as his speci alty.

Return to France

After returning to France, Romain Rolland defends his dissertation at the Sorbonne. It is dedicated to the origin of the modern opera house, as well as the history of European opera. In 1895 he received the title of professor of music history. After that, he begins to lecture: first at the Ecole Normal, and then at the Sorbonne itself.

In 1901, he founded a musicological journal with the famous French musicologist Pierre Aubrey. Several of his program works belong to this period: "Musicians of our days", "Musicians of the past" and "Handel".

Literary debut

Romain Rolland becomes famous as a writer in 1897 when he makes his debut in print with a tragedy called Saint Louis. It becomes the basis of the so-called dramatic cycle "Tragedies of Faith", which also included his works "The Time Will Come" and "Aert".

During the First World War, the hero of our article becomes an active participant in pacifist organizations that are gaining popularity throughout Europe. He publishes a large number of anti-war articles, later combined into the collections "Forerunners" and "Above the Battle".

Correspondence with Russian classics

Becomes an internationally recognized author after being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1915on literature. At this point, the best works of Romain Rolland have already been written, including "Jean-Christophe", about which we will tell in more detail.

During this period, he actively supported the February Revolution that took place in our country. Later, he also speaks approvingly of the events of October 1917. Noting that he is afraid of the methods used by the Bolsheviks, as well as their idea that the end always justifies the means. In this regard, he is more attracted to the ideas of non-resistance to evil by violence, which Gandhi preaches.

In 1921, Rolland moved to the Swiss town of Villeneuve, where he continued to work actively, correspond with prose writers of our time. Regularly visits Vienna, London, Salzburg, Prague and Germany.

You can trace how Romain Rolland is associated with Likino-Dulyovo. Now it is a small town located less than a hundred kilometers from Moscow. From there was a Soviet writer and memoirist Alexander Peregudov, author of the novels "A Harsh Song", "In Those Far Years", the stories "At the Bear", "Forest Divination", "Treasury", "Mill", "Artist's Heart". Rolland corresponded with him, highly appreciating his works. In particular, he wrote about the author's wonderful sense of nature, the ability to convey the smell of northern forests.

In the 1920s, his relationship with Maxim Gorky began. In 1935, at his invitation, he even comes to Moscow and meets with Joseph Stalin. Taking advantage of his acquaintance with the Generalissimo, two years later, at the height of the Bolshoiterror, he even writes to Stalin, trying to stand up for some of the repressed, in particular, Bukharin, but does not receive any answer.

In 1938, news of the brutal repressions in the USSR reaches him, his numerous letters to other Soviet leaders also do not bear fruit.

When the Second World War began, he ended up in the French village of Vezelay under occupation. He continued to write until he died of tuberculosis at the age of 78 in 1944.

Private life

The writer was married to the poetess Marie Cuvilie, who was of part Russian origin (her father was a Russian nobleman). For Cuvilliers, this was the second marriage. Her first husband is Prince Sergei Kudashev.

Features of creativity

In the collected works of Romain Rolland today you can find his main works. The first publications include the play "Orsino", the events of which unfold in the Renaissance, and the title character demonstrates the best features of that time.

In his works, Rolland often calls for the renewal of art. The collection of articles "People's Theater" of 1903 is devoted to this.

Another attempt to reform the theatrical stage was the cycle of plays "Theater of the Revolution", dedicated to the events of 1789 in France.

Based on biographical material

Over time, the works of Romain Rolland are increasingly based on biographical material. He also brings innovative notes to this genre, paying attention to literary porter, psychological essays and musicalresearch.

So, from 1903 to 1911, his trilogy "Heroic Lives" was published. These are biographies of Beethoven, Michelangelo and Tolstoy.

In them he tries to combine action and dream. For example, in "The Life of Michelangelo" he describes the conflict between a weak person and a personality of a genius, who coexist in one hero. As a result, he is simply unable to complete his work, refuses art.

Jean-Christophe

Rolland's most famous work is the novel Jean-Christophe, which he wrote from 1904 to 1912. It consists of 10 books. The cycle tells about the creative crisis of the German musician Jean-Christophe Kraft, the prototype for which is the author himself and partly Beethoven.

The novel consists of three parts, each of which has a complete character, its own tonality and rhythm, like in a piece of music. There are many lyrical digressions in the book, which give it additional emotionality.

The main character of Rolland is a rebel, a modern genius of music of his time. Describing his emigration, the author recreates the fate of the European people, again trying to talk about the need to reform art, which is increasingly becoming an object of commerce.

In the final, Jean-Christophe ceases to be a rebel, but remains true to his art, which is the main thing for the author. The character's life changes in his quest for wisdom. He goes through a whole series of trials, trying to overcome his passions, subjugate life and achieve true Harmony in everything.

In 1915 he won the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature, academics celebrate his sublime idealism, love and sympathy, with which he creates all sorts of human destinies.

Return to the Renaissance

During the First World War, the writer again turns to the Renaissance. For four years he has been writing the story "Cola Breugnon". Romain Rolland in it moves the scene to Burgundy.

Its title character is a talented and resilient wood carver. For him, creativity and work are two integral components of life, without which he cannot imagine himself. If "Jean-Christophe" was an intellectual novel, then this work captivates many with its simplicity, therefore it remains one of the writer's most popular.

After 1918, a real evolution took place in Rolland's work. He perceives the just ended World War I as a banal way of earning money for the powerful of this world. His anti-war articles, combined in the collection "Above the fight", are devoted to this.

Anti-war views underlie the pamphlet "Liliuli", the novel "Clerambault", the tragedy "Pierre and Luce". In all these works, human feelings and peaceful life are in conflict with the destructive power of war.

Rolland's Philosophical Works

The writer is faced with the fact that he is unable to reconcile his own revolutionary thoughts with the ongoing social transformations, with hisdisgust for war. Therefore, he begins to promote the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi about not resisting evil with violence.

Among his works of the 20s, one should note "Mahatma Gandhi", "The Life of Vivekananda", "The Life of Ramakrishna". Romain Rolland provides biographies of these outstanding religious philosophers of the 19th century. He notes that he considers the historical forms of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism to be only particular manifestations of aspiration for a universal religion.

His articles on the Soviet Union belong to this period. In particular, "On the death of Lenin", "Response to K. Balmont and I. Bunin", "Letter to Liberter about repressions in Russia". It is worth noting that the last article refers to 1927. Despite the repressions that began in Russia, until the time of the Great Terror, Rolland continued to believe that the October Revolution was the greatest achievement of mankind.

Women's rights

Another iconic work by Romain Rolland - "The Enchanted Soul". This is an epic novel that he writes from 1925 to 1933. In it, he addresses social topics.

The main character is a woman who is trying to defend her rights. Her son is killed by an Italian fascist, after which she joins the fight against the "brown plague". This becomes his first anti-fascist novel.

In 1936, a collection of articles and essays by Roland called "Companions" was published. In it, the writer dwells on the biographies of creative people and philosophers who influencedshaping his worldview. These are Goethe, Shakespeare, Lenin and Hugo.

In 1939, Rolland wrote the play "Robespierre", which completes the revolutionary theme in his work. In it, he talks about the terror that any society is subject to immediately after the revolution. At the same time, in the end, he comes to his inexpediency.

In the occupation during the Second World War, the hero of our article is working on his autobiography "Inner Journey", which he completes in 1942. Already after his death, the work "Circumnavigation" and a large-scale study of Beethoven's work, which is known as "Beethoven. Great Creative Epochs", were published.

The last book of the writer called "Pegi" comes out shortly before his death. In it, Rolland describes his close friend, the editor of the Fortnightly Notebooks, a poet and polemicist.

In his posthumous memoirs, which were published in 1956, one can trace the unity of Rolland's views in love for humanity.