Francis de Miomandre

Francis de Miomandre (born 22 May 1880 in Tours – 1 August 1959 in Saint-Brieuc) was a French novelist and well-known translator from Spanish into French.

Biography

He was born in Tours, Indre-et-Loire, the son of a salesman Gilbert Durand and of Thérèse de Miomandre. He kept his mother's name as his nome de plume. In 1888 he moved with his parents to Marseille and stayed there until 1898, studying at the Jesuit College of St. Ignatius in Marseille. At the same time he befriended a group of young writers. In 1894 they founded a magazine la Revue Méditerranéenne in which he published his early work. In 1900 he met Camille Mockler in Saint-Leu-La-Forêt.

In 1904 Miomandre published his first book "Thoughts and memories" with a circulation of two hundred and twenty copies. He worked with the magazine « le Mercure de France » (Paris) «Antée» (Bruges) and «L'Occident». Francis began to sell paintings at a gallery called Berngayma, and later worked as a secretary to his director - Félix Fénéon. Later, he served as secretary of the editorial board of the journal «L'Art et les artistes» until 1912. He eventually won the Prix Goncourt in 1908 for his novel Écrit sur l'eau.... His novels are highly imaginative and put together with the genuine talent of a romancer who has traveled far and wide at his own study table.

Miomandre wrote thousands of articles for over two hundred magazines and newspapers.^[1] This work was his main livelihood. From time to time wrote in the edition Marges, New French Review, Manuscrit autographe and les Cahiers du Sud, and he had a column in the chronicle Nouvelles littéraires from 1922 until his death in 1959. In addition, in 1926, he regularly wrote literary critiques, and collaborated with other magazines. His first critical essays were published in the book "The Face" in 1907. Four years later, he released another collection of essays.

At the same time, he became one of the foremost translators of Spanish. In 1918 Miomandre released "Selected pages" by Jose Enrique Rodo, in 1921 - "Twenty-four sonnets" by Luis de Gongora-and-Argote. Among the authors who Miomandre translated were Miguel de Unamuno, Ventura Garcia Calderon, Miguel Cervantes, Miguel Angel Asturias, Lydia Cabrera, Horacio Quiroga, Benito Perez Galdos, Enrique Rodríguez Larreta, Lazcano Tags Eugenio d'Orsay, Joaquin Maria Machado de Assis, Jose Marti and others. There are about fifty translated works.

Miomandre wrote articles for many Spanish and Latin American editions, and from 1946 to 1956 was editor of the category "Iberian Literature" for the magazine «Hommes et Mondes». According to Claude Kuffona,^[1] every morning Miomandre translated ten pages of text, and in the afternoon and evening worked on critical articles or his own literary works. He wrote easily and critics overwhelmingly recognized the lightness and clarity of his language.

Miomandre also acted as a screenwriter. In 1923 he wrote the screenplay for the film "Shelter of Love, or The Return of Uncle Arsene," based on his novel of the same name.

From 1908 to 1911, he participated in the Club des longues moustaches (Club of long whiskers).

Works

Novels

• Écrit sur de l'eau... Paris, Émile-Paul Frères. Prix Goncourt 1908.
• Aventures merveilleuses d'Yvan Danubsko, prince valaque. Paris, Daragon, 1909.
• Le Vent et la Poussière. Novel. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1909.
• L'Ingénu. Novel. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1910.
• Au Bon Soleil, scènes de la vie provençale. Dialogues. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1911.
• Digression peacockienne. Paris, Champion, 1911.
• Gazelle (Mémoire d'une tortue). Paris, Dorbon, 1910.
• L'Ingénu. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1911.
• Histoire de Pierre Pons, pantin de feutre, roman pour les enfants. Illustrations by Paul Guignebault. Paris, Fayard, 1912.
• ...D'amour et d'eau fraîche. Paris, Payot. 1913.
• L'Aventure de Thérèse Beauchamps. Novel. Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 1913.
• Le Veau d'Or et la Vache Enragée. Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1917.
• Pantomime anglaise. Novel. Illustrations by Marco de Gastyne. Paris, Renaissance du livre, coll. « In extenso », 1918.
• Voyages d’un sédentaire. Fantasies. Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1918.
• La Cabane d’amour ou le Retour de l’oncle Arsène. Novel, Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1919.
• Le Mariage de Geneviève. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1920.
• L'Amour sous les oliviers. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1921.
• Les Taupes. Novel. Paris, Émile-Paul Frères, 1922.
• Ces Petits Messieurs. Novel. Paris, Émile-Paul, 1922.
• Le Greluchon sentimental. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, coll. « Colette », 1923.
• La Naufragée. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, coll. « Colette », 1924.
• La Jeune Fille au jardin, unedited novel. Paris, Ferenczi & Fils, coll. « Le Livre Moderne Illustré », N°13, 1924.
• Contes des cloches de cristal. Paris, Chez Madame Lesage, coll. « Le Sage et ses amis », 1925.
• La Bonbonnière d'or. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1925.
• L’Ombre et l’Amour. Journal d’un homme timide. Novel. Paris, Vald. Rasmussen, coll. « Échantillons », 1925.
• Le Radjah de Mazulipatam. Paris, Ferenczi & fils, 1926.
• L’Amour de Mademoiselle Duverrier. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1926.
• Olympe et ses amis. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1927.
• Les Baladins d’amour. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1928.
• Passy-Auteuil ou Le vieux monsieur du square. Monologue intérieur. With 45 designs by Clément Serveau. Paris, André Delpeuch éditeur, coll. « Le roman de Paris », 1928.
• Soleil de Grasse. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1929.
• Baroque. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1929.
• Le Jeune Homme des palaces. Paris, Éditions des Portiques, 1929.
• Le Patriarche. Paris, Aux dépens de la Société de la gravure, 1919.
• Vie du sage Prospero. Paris, Plon, coll. « La Grande Fable. Chroniques des personnages imaginaires », n° 2, 1930.
• Jeux de glaces. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi et Fils, 1930.
• Âmes russes 1910. Paris, J. Ferenczi & Fils, 1931.
• Les Égarements de Blandine. Paris, Ferenczi & Fils - Le Beau livre, 1932.
• Otarie. arabesque amoureuse et marine. Dedicated to Blaise Cendrars. Paris, Maurice d’Hartoy éditeur, coll. « Les Maîtres du style », 1933.
• Le Zombie. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi, 1935.
• Le Cabinet chinois. Paris, Gallimard, coll. « La Renaissance de la nouvelle », 1936.
• Direction Étoile. Novel. Paris, Plon, 1937.
• L'Invasion du paradis. Novel. Paris, Ferenczi, 1937.
• Le Fil d’Ariane. Avignon, Édouard Aubanel, coll. « Les grands contemporains », éditeur, 1941.
• Portes. Neuchâtel, Éditions de la Baconnière, coll. « Les Cahiers du Rhône », série blanche, XIX, novembre 1943 (nouvelles).
• Fugues. Marseille, Robert Laffont, 1943.
• Les Jardins de Marguilène. Novel. Fribourg, L.U.F., 1943.
• Le Raton laveur et le maître d’hôtel. Novel. Fribourg, L.U.F., 1944.
• Primevère et l’Ange. Novel. Paris, Robert Laffont, 1945.
• L'Âne de Buridan. Novel. Lyon, Éditions Ludunum, 1946.
• La Conférence. Novel. Paris, Le Bateau ivre, 1946.
• Rencontres dans la Nuit. Novel. Bienne, Éditions du Panorama / Éditions du Dauphin, 1954.
• L’Œuf de Colomb. Novel. Paris, Grasset, 1954.
• Aorasie. Novel. Paris, Grasset, 1957.
• Caprices. Paris, Gallimard, 1960.

Poetry

• Les Reflets et les souvenirs. Paris, Bibliothèque de l'Occident, 1904.
• Samsara. Paris, Éditions Fourcade, 1931.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "^{article name needed}". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead. 

External links

• Works by or about Francis de Miomandre at Internet Archive