Henri Bosco
Henri Bosco was a notable French novelist born in 1888 in Avignon, France, into a family with a rich artistic background. He had a strong classical education, studying Latin and Greek, and later earned a degree in Italian. His teaching career began in France and took him to Algeria, where he deepened his interest in Hellenistic culture. After serving in both World Wars, he became a full-time writer in Morocco before returning to France in 1955, where he continued to write until his death in 1976. Bosco's literary contributions include poetry, essays, and critically acclaimed novels, which often reflect his classical influences and introspective style. He received several prestigious literary awards in the mid-20th century and was respected by contemporary writers. His works, including six novels and a biography of an Italian saint, have been translated into English, showcasing his impact on French literature and culture.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Henri Bosco
Author
- Born: November 16, 1888
- Birthplace: Avignon, France
- Died: May 4, 1976
- Place of death: Nice, France
Biography
Novelist Henri Bosco was born in Avignon, Provenance, France, in 1888, the son of Louis Bosco, an opera singer. He received a strong musical education and grounding in the classics, including Latin and Greek, from the lycée in Avignon. After graduating from the university in Grenoble, he attended the French Institute in Florence, Italy, receiving a degree in Italian in 1912. He served in the French army during bptj World War I and World War II.
Bosco was a language teacher in Avignon and Bourg-en-Bresse before receiving an assignment in Philippeville (now Skikda), Algeria, in 1914 to teach classical languages and French. In 1914, he received a military assignment to Greece, and his time there further developed his fascination with Hellenist culture. Bosco’s classicism influenced his formal and introspective writing style, which differed dramatically from the experimentalism that dominated literature during his lifetime.
After World War I, he resumed his teaching career in Naples at the French Institute, where he worked until shortly before his marriage to Marie-Madeleine Rhodes in 1930. He spent the next twenty-five years in Rabat, Morocco. Bosco worked first as a teacher in Rabat and then became a full-time writer in 1945 after completing his second stint of military service. He returned to France in 1955, living and working as a writer in Nice until his death in 1976. For the last decade of his life, he was a member of the council of the University of Nice.
Although Bosco wrote his first novel and received a prize for it at the age of seven, he began his adult writing career in 1924 with the novel Pierre Lampédouze, and the following year he published a volume of poetry, Les Poetes. Throughout his literary career, he continued to write poetry, as well as essays and the occasional nonfiction. However, it was his novels that received the most critical attention, including praise from writers André Gide and Gaston Bachelard.
Between 1945 to 1947, Bosco’s novels received three major French literary prizes: the Prix Theophraste-Renaudot for Le Mas Theotime (1946; The Farm Theotime 1946); the Prix Louis Barthou from the Academie Francaise for Le Jardin d’hyacinthe; and the Prix des Ambassadeurs for Malicroix. The years 1965 to 1970 brought additional honors: the Grand Prix de la Méditerranée, the Grand Prix de l’Académie de Vaucluse, the Grand Prix du Roman de l’Académie Française, a medal from the city of Marseille, and citations as Citizen of Honor from both Avignon and Nice. Six of Bosco’s novels have been translated into English, and his biography of the Italian saint, Jean Don Bosco, to whom he was distantly related, also was translated in the mid-1960’s.
Bosco held memberships in the Academie d’Aix-en-Provence and the Academie rhodanienne. He received several state and military honors during his lifetime, including Commandeur de la Légion d’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre.