Romain Rolland

Romain Rolland was born in Clamecy, France, on 29 January 1866. He studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and later received a scholarship to attend the French School at Rome. From the outset, his interests ranged across literature, music, history, and philosophy; this union of art and thought would become a defining feature of his work. He died in Vézelay, France, on 30 December 1944.

Rolland’s most important work of fiction is Jean-Christophe, a novel cycle tracing the life and spiritual and artistic struggles of a musician. The Enchanted Soul is another major fictional work. To describe the structure of such long, continuous works, Rolland used the term roman-fleuve, or “river novel.” He also wrote on music and historical and cultural figures, and in his essay The People’s Theatre defended a more popular and democratic theatre.

Rolland received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1915; because of the war, it was presented to him in 1916. The Nobel Committee emphasized the lofty idealism of his writing, as well as his sympathy and love of truth in portraying human beings. Pacifism, the search for truth and the meaning of life, and attention to the possibility of human solidarity were among the central concerns of his work and intellectual life.

Rolland also took a serious interest in Indian philosophy and spirituality and wrote about Gandhi. His attention to mystical experience and to the notion of the “oceanic feeling” was reflected in his correspondence with Sigmund Freud. Taken together, his work joins literature, music, spirituality, and an ethical commitment to peace and humanity.