Georges Duhamel
Georges Duhamel (1884-1966) was a notable French physician and writer, who exemplified a dual career in medicine and literature. Born in Paris, he trained as a doctor and practiced medicine while also pursuing his passion for writing. Influenced by prominent literary figures, Duhamel initially produced conventional poetry before his experiences as a military surgeon during World War I profoundly shaped his literary voice. His encounters with the harsh realities of war led him to create the Salavin cycle, a series of novels that deeply explored themes of loss and survivor's guilt following the Great War.
Duhamel's work resonated with a wide audience in France, and he achieved significant recognition, including election to the French Academy in 1935. During the Nazi Occupation of France, he actively opposed tyranny through his writings, which were subsequently banned by the occupiers. His health declined in the early 1960s, leading to his retirement from both medicine and writing. Duhamel passed away in 1966 in Valmondois, leaving behind a legacy as a powerful voice for those affected by war and oppression.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Georges Duhamel
Author
- Born: June 30, 1884
- Birthplace: Paris, France
- Died: April 13, 1966
- Place of death: Valmondois, France
Biography
Georges Duhamel was born on June 30, 1884, in Paris. Like his father, Georges Duhamel became a doctor. After completing his elementary and secondary studies in Paris, Duhamel studied medicine. Like the American poet William Carlos Williams and the Irish poet Oliver St. John Gogarty, Duhamel was both a practicing physician and an important writer. Throughout his adult life, Duhamel balanced both careers quite well. In 1909, he married Blanche Albane, and they enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle. Before World War I, he became acquainted with important French writers, including Jules Romains and Paul Claudel, who encouraged him to keep writing, but he went on to produce little more than well- crafted and fairly conventional verse. In 1914, he volunteered to serve as a military surgeon in the French Army. He had the painful experience of operating on numerous severely wounded and dying French soldiers. This direct encounter with death and dying inspired him to become a voice for survivors of the Great War. In the years immediately after World War I, he wrote a series of greatly admired novels, called the Salavin cycle, which expressed the profound sense of loss and guilt felt by those who had survived World War I. Salavin is the major character in these powerful novels, whose stories convey to readers the enormity of the sacrifices made by French soldiers in World War I. Duhamel became enormously popular in France, and he was elected to the French Academy in 1935. During the Nazi Occupation of France, from 1940 to 1944, he became an importance voice of resistance to tyranny. His books were banned by the Nazis. By the early 1960’s, declining health forced him to retire from medicine and writing. He died on April 13, 1966, at his house in the French provincial town of Valmondois at the age of eighty- one.
