François Mauriac was born in Bordeaux, France on October 11, 1885. He was a novelist, essayist, poet, and playwright. He studied at the University of Bordeaux and the École Nationale des Chartes at Paris before leaving to focus on writing. His first published work, a volume of poems entitled Joined Hands, was published in 1909. He was better known as a novelist. His novels include Young Man in Chains, The Stuff of Youth, The Kiss to the Leper, The Desert of Love, Vipers' Tangle, The Frontenac Mystery, The Unknown Sea, and A Woman of the Pharisees. His plays include Asmodée and The Poorly Loved. Mauriac resisted the Nazi invaders and the Vichy regime consistently and courageously during World War II. He was elected to the French Academy in 1933 and received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1952. He died on September 1, 1970.
