Thierry Maulnier

Thierry Maulnier in 1952.

Thierry Maulnier(bornJacques Talagrand;1 October 1909,Alès– 9 January 1988,Marnes-la-Coquette) was a French journalist, essayist, dramatist, and literary critic. He was married to theatre directorMarcelle Tassencourt.

Early years

A graduate of theÉcole Normale Supérieurein the same class asRoger Vailland,Robert Brasillach,andMaurice Bardèche.While still a student, Maulnier became active in theintegralistAction Française,and published inCharles Maurras' newspaper (L'Action française). He made a career in journalism and took part in the movement of theNon-conformists of the 1930s,inspired by thepersonalistgeneration of youngintellectualswho shared some of the ideals of the Action Française, holdingright-wingbeliefs as an answer to a "crisis of civilization"andmaterialism.He also campaigned against democracy and capitalism, advocating aunion of the right and leftto overthrow the two.Thierry Maulnier associated with youth periodicals such asRéaction,La Revue du Siècle,andLa Revue française;he also wrote his first volume,La crise est dans l'homme( "Crisis Is in Man" ).

In 1934, he authored, withJean-Pierre Maxence,themanifestoDemain la France( "Tomorrow, France" ). Maxence and Maulnier also founded the weeklyL'Insurgéin 1936 lasting only a few months, the magazine circulatednationalisttenets, reviewed in Maulnier's 1938 essayAu-delà du nationalisme( "Beyond Nationalism" ). At the same time, he joinedJean de Fabrèguesin the creation of a more analytical paper,Combat,one which would be published until France's defeat inWorld War II.

World War II and after

A regular contributor toL'Action françaisesince 1938, Maulnier continued to publish afterNazi Germany'soccupation of France(from 1940); he also started writing forLe Figaro.He ceased writing for the paper after the start ofOperation Torchin 1942, and remained a journalist forLe Figarofrom 1945 until his death.

With the beginning of theFourth Republic,Maulnier no longer engaged in politics. He wrote plays (La Course des rois- 1947;Le Profanateur- 1950,La Ville au fond de la mer- 1953,Le Soir du conquérant- 1970) and essays (Violence et conscience- 1945,La Face de méduse du communisme- 1952,L'Europe a fait le monde- 1966,Le Sens des mots- 1976,Les Vaches sacrées- 1977), but also commented on social themes (with Maulnier as a staunchPro-European).

In 1964, he was elected to theAcadémie françaisein place of the deceasedHenry Bordeaux.In 1986 he was awarded thePrix mondial Cino Del Duca.

Works

• La crise est dans l'homme(1932)
• Nietzsche(1933)
• Racine(1934)
• Miracle de la Monarchie(1935)
• Mythes socialistes(1938)
• Au-delà du nationalisme(1938)
• Introduction à la poésie française(1939)
• La France, la guerre et la paix(1942, Lyon)
• Violence et conscience(1945)
• Langages(1946)
• Jeanne et ses juges(1952)
• Le Sexe et le néant,directed byMarcelle Tassencourt,Théâtre de l'Athénée(1960)
• Cette Grèce où nous sommes nés(1964)
• La Défaite d'hannibal,followed byLa ville au fond de la mer,Gallimard (1968)
• Dialogue inattendu,with Jean Elleinstein, Flammarion (1979)

Theatre

• 1944:AntigonebyRobert Garnier,Théâtre Charles de Rochefort,Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier