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Biography

Marcel Schwob Adolescent

Mayer-André-Marcel Schwob was born August 23, 1867 in Chaville, France.  His father, George Schwob, worked for the foreign affairs ministry in Egypt for 10 years and later returned to France.  Schwob’s mother, née Mathilde Cahun, was a descendant of the Jewish Cayms, known for fighting in the crusades with St. Louis.  Schwob had a brother, Maurice, and a sister, Maggie (WilsonWeb) 1

In 1876, George Schwob moved his family to Nantes, where he purchased the regional newspaper Le Phare de la Loire.  Schwob’s mother was devoted to her children’s education and frequently brought tutors into the household.  By age three, Schwob was fluent in both English and German.  In 1881, Schwob moved to Paris and began his studies at Lycée Louis-le-Grand.  While in Paris, Schwob lived with his maternal uncle, Léon Cahun.  Cahun was a conservator at the Bibliothèque Mazarine who wrote historical novels (Dictionary of Literary Biography 244) 2

Schwob obtained his baccalauréat in 1884 and went on to join the military in 1885 (Société Marcel Schwob) 3 .  Schwob’s military experiences later inspired his first contes, or short fictional stories, published in Coeur double (Green 51) 4 .

After completing his military service, Schwob returned to Paris.  In July 1888, he was denied admission to L’Ecole Normale, lacking the ½ point necessary for entry (Champion 50-51) 5 .

Despite his rejection from Normale, Schwob received his license and went on to study with Michel Bréal, taking linguistic courses from both him and Ferdinand de Saussure.  Schwob worked with Georges Guieysse and published Etude sur l’argot français (study of French argot), focusing on the work of François Villon (Dictionary of Literary Biography 245).

Beginning in 1890, Schwob worked with Auguste Longnon at the Archives Nationales, further researching Villon.  He also began contributing articles, contes, and editorials to Le Phare and L’Echo de Paris (Société Marcel Schwob).

   

Schwob published his first collection of contes in Coeur double (1891).  In December 1891, Schwob began sending unsigned editorials, titled “Lettres Parisiennes”to his father for publication in Le Phare de la Loireand Le Petit Phare(Green 84).  These editorials cover a wide range of topics, including anti-semitism, crime, the Panama scandal, labor strikes, and later on, the Dreyfus Affair.

In 1892, Schwob published Roi au masque d’or, which deals with Schwob’s “enduring fascination with the themes of masking, impersonations, and the transformational power of fiction” (Dictionary of Literary Biography 246).

Following the death of his father in August 1892, Schwob’s older brother, Maurice, took over Le Phare de la Loire.  Schwob continued to write “Lettres Parisiennes”and send them to his brother for publication (Green 84).

In December 1893, Schwob was devastated by the death of a young prostitute named Louise, with whom he had a relationship.  Louise inspired Schwob’s most well-known work, Le Livre de Monelle (1894).

Schwob underwent the first of many operations in late 1895, marking the end of his creative period (Green 86) 6 .  He went on to focus his efforts on translation, and in 1900 he married a young actress names Marguerite Moreno.

Although he was generally confined to his home due to his persistent illness, Schwob and his companion, Ting-Tse-Ying, traveled to Samoa in 1901 to visit grave of Robert-Louis Stevenson. Schwob became gravely ill on the voyage and was forced to return to Paris in March 1902 (Green 86).

Schwob went on to teach a class at l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes in Paris.  In 1904, he traveled throughout Europe with a colleague, visiting Portugal, Italy, and Spain (Société Marcel Schwob). 

Schwob died in Paris on February 26, 1905.

Marcel Schwob Marriage Cirtificate Marcel Schwob Birth Cirtificate

Footnotes

  1. H.W. Wilson Company http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww
  2. “Marcel Schwob (23 August 1867 – 26 February 1905).” Dictionary of Literary Biography: Nineteenth-Century French Fiction Writers: Naturalism and Beyond, 1860-1900. Ed. Catharine Savage Brosman. Vol. 123. Detroit; Gale Research Inc, 1992.
  3. Site de la Société Marcel Schwob. 2008. 7 February 2008. http://www.marcel-schwob.org/Articles/116/chronologie
  4. Green, John Alden. Correspondance Inédite. Genève: Librairie Droz, 1985.
  5. Champion, Pierre, ed. Œuvres Complètes. 2nd ed. Vol. 10. Paris : Slatkine Reprints, 1985.
  6. Green, John Alden. Chroniques. Genève: Librairie Droz, 1981.

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