Jean Schlumberger
Jean Schlumberger was a notable French writer and editor, born in 1877 in Guebwiller, Alsace. Coming from a well-off Protestant family, he received a strong education, studying literature at Lycée Condorcet and later at the Sorbonne, where he shifted his focus to religion and history. His early life included a brief contemplation of a ministerial career, but he ultimately turned to literature and married artist Suzanne Weyner in 1899, with whom he had three children. Schlumberger played a pivotal role in founding the Nouvelle Revue Francaise (NRF) in 1909, a key journal for French modernism, where he served as an editor and published several of his works.
Over his prolific career, Schlumberger produced a range of writings, including poetry, novels, and nonfiction, with notable titles such as the psychological novel "Le Camarade infidèle" and the acclaimed "Saint-Saturnin." His works often reflect a deep exploration of complex themes such as truth, heroism, and the human condition. He was recognized for his contributions to literature, receiving honors including the Croix de Guerre and being named to the Legion of Honor. Schlumberger's works are characterized by his belief that understanding oneself and others is inherently elusive, leaving readers with thought-provoking questions rather than definitive answers.
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Jean Schlumberger
Writer
- Born: May 26, 1877
- Birthplace: Guebwiller, Alsace, Germany (now France)
- Died: October 25, 1968
Biography
The son of a wealthy French protestant family, Jean Schlumberger was born in Guebwiller, Alsace (then German territory), in 1877. His parents, Paul and Marguerite Schlumberger, provided their son with access to books and encouraged his academic pursuits.
The teenaged Schlumberger left home to attend the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, where he studied literature. He continued his education at the Sorbonne, but shifted his interests to religion and history. Contemplating a vocation as a minister, he changed his mind when he fell in love with artist Suzanne Weyner. They married in 1899; their union produced one son and two daughters. Eventually Schlumberger would abandon the religious beliefs of his youth and espouse agnosticism.
In 1909, along with friend and fellow writer Andre Gide and others, Schlumberger helped to found the Nouvelle Revue Francaise (NRF), a journal dedicated to aesthetics. Claiming freedom from any singular political or theoretical stance, the NRF was considered the leading publication for French modernists. In addition to featuring literary analyses and reviews, the journal covered the arts, politics, and philosophy. Through 1914, Schlumberger was an active editor and composed book reviews for the journal’s pages. The organization also published new works, including several of Schlumberger’s early novels. Likewise, Schlumberger helped establish the Théâtre du Vieux-Colombier, a performance space for experimental drama. In both endeavors, he was dedicated to promoting new forms of artistic expression, including his own.
Comfortable in multiple genres, Schlumberger wrote numerous books between 1903, when his first collection of poetry received publication, and the year of his death, 1968, when the autobiographical Rencontres (encounters) appeared in print. Among his novels, Le Camarade infidèle (the faithless friend), published in 1922, continues to attract readers. Typical of many post-World War I novels, the narrative relies on psychological realism to explore the concept of heroism and to investigate truth and falsehood in a time of war. Considered supreme among his novels, 1931’s Saint- Saturnin explores the effects of senility upon an aging bourgeois patriarch and his family.
The author incorporated many life experiences into his works. His 1935 fictional account of the machinations of a literary press, Histoire de quatre potiers, draws upon his activities and relationships at the NRF. Schlumberger also composed works of nonfiction, including his critically acclaimed 1936 study, Le Cid: Plaisir à Corneille, and a 1956 biographical account of Gide’s platonic marriage titled Madeleine et André Gide. To honor his contributions to literature as both editor and author, Schlumberger held the Croix de Guerre from 1914 to 1918 and was named to the Legion of Honor.
Jean Schlumberger was a significant French novelist and a master of other genres who produced his major works during the first half of the twentieth century. Central to all his works, fiction and nonfiction, is his tenet that knowledge of self and others can never be absolute. As an editor, he refrained from embracing a particular aesthetic doctrine; as an author, he refused to provide singular answers to complex questions regarding the nature of existence.