René Boylesve (1867 - 1926)

René Boylesve

René Boylesve, birth name René Marie Auguste Tardiveau, is a French writer and literary critic, a member of the Académie Française.

Boylesve was educated at Poitiers, Tours, and Paris, studying humanities and fine arts, natural sciences, and law. Ten years later, under his mother's maiden name, he wrote his first novel, The Physician of the Lady of Nean (1894). These were followed by other books, and then came the series known as the "Touraine novels": "Mademoiselle Cloke" (1899), "Beke" (1901), "The Child at the Balustrade" (1903), "The Educated Girl" (1909) and others. In these works, the author expertly depicts the mores of the provincial petty bourgeoisie. With a richly detailed style and characteristic irony Boylesve tells about the triumph of conventional values over artistic and spiritual aspirations.

In 1918 René Boylesve was elected a member of the French Academy.