View source for Jean Giraudoux

{{Short description|French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright (1882–1944)}}
{{distinguish|Jean Giraudeau}}
{{expand French|topic=bio|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox writer
| name         = Jean Giraudoux
| image        = Jean Giraudoux 1927.jpg
| imagesize    = 
| caption      = Giraudoux in 1927
| birth_name   = 
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1882|10|29|df=y}} 
| birth_place  = [[Bellac]], [[Haute-Vienne]], France
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1944|01|31|1882|10|29|df=y}}
| death_place  = Paris, France
| occupation   = Dramatist
| period       =
| genre        =
| subject      =
| movement     =
| notableworks = ''[[The Madwoman of Chaillot]]'',<br>''[[Ondine (play)|Ondine]]'',<br> ''[[Duel of Angels]]'',<br> ''[[The Trojan War Will Not Take Place]]''
| spouse       = Suzanne Boland
| children     = 1 son
| awards       = 
| signature    =
}}
'''Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux''' ({{IPAc-en|ʒ|ɪ|r|oʊ|ˈ|d|uː}};<ref>{{Cite Merriam-Webster|Giraudoux}}</ref> {{IPA|fr|ipɔlit ʒɑ̃ ʒiʁodu|lang}}; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French [[novelist]], [[essayist]], [[diplomat]] and [[playwright]]. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between [[World War I]] and [[World War II]].<ref>Brockett, Oscar. ''History of the Theatre'' Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 1968. p. 621.</ref> 

His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy. Giraudoux's dominant theme is the relationship between man and woman—or in some cases, between man and some unattainable ideal.

==Biography==
Giraudoux was born in [[Bellac]], [[Haute-Vienne]], where his father, Léger Giraudoux, worked for the [[Minister of Transport (France)|Ministry of Transport]].  Giraudoux studied at the [[Lycée Lakanal]] in [[Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine|Sceaux]] and upon graduation traveled extensively in Europe.  After his return to France in 1910, he accepted a position with the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (France)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].  With the outbreak of World War I, he served with distinction and in 1915 became the first writer ever to be awarded the wartime [[Légion d'honneur|Legion of Honour]].<ref>Fowlie, Wallace. ''Jean Giraudoux'' in Gassner, John and Edward Quinn ed. ''The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama.'' New York, Thomas Crowell. 1969. p. 359.</ref>

He married in 1918 and in the subsequent inter-war period produced the majority of his writing.  He first achieved literary success through his novels, notably ''[[Siegfried et le Limousin]]'' (1922) and ''Eglantine'' (1927).  An ongoing collaboration with actor and theater director [[Louis Jouvet]], beginning in 1928 with Jouvet's radical streamlining of ''Siegfried'' for the stage, stimulated his writing.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/234192/Jean-Giraudoux |title=Encyclopædia Britannica Online: "Jean Giraudoux" |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |date=2013-11-06 |access-date=2014-06-03}}</ref> But it is his plays that gained him international renown.  He became well known in the English speaking world largely because of the award-winning adaptations of his plays by [[Christopher Fry]] (''[[The Trojan War Will Not Take Place|Tiger at the Gates]]'') and [[Maurice Valency]] (the satirical ''[[The Madwoman of Chaillot]]'', ''[[Ondine (play)|Ondine]]'', ''[[The Enchanted (play)|The Enchanted]]'', ''[[The Apollo of Bellac]]'').

Giraudoux served as a juror with [[Florence Meyer Blumenthal]] in awarding the [[Prix Blumenthal]], a grant given between 1919 and 1954 to painters, sculptors, decorators, engravers, writers, and musicians.<ref name="FMBlumenthal">{{cite web
  | title = Florence Meyer Blumenthal
  | publisher = Jewish Women's Archive, Michele Siegel 
  | url = http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/blumenthal-florence-meyer}}</ref> In politics he was affiliated with the [[Radical Party (France)|Radical Party]], served in the cabinet of [[Édouard Herriot]] in 1932, and was appointed as Minister of Information by [[Édouard Daladier]] in 1939.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Body |first1=Jacques |title=Jean Giraudoux: The Legend and the Secret |date=1991 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press |page=56}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ganz |first1=Arthur |title=Human and Suprahuman: Ambiguity in the Tragic World of Jean Giraudoux |journal=PMLA |date=1972 |volume=87 |issue=2 |pages=284–294|doi=10.2307/460883 |jstor=460883 |s2cid=171034086 }}</ref>

He is buried in the [[Cimetière de Passy]] in Paris.<ref name=obit>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0D1EFF3F5A157B93C3A91789D85F408485F9&scp=10&sq=giraudoux+obituary&st=p New York Times; February 1, 1944] Jean Giraudoux obituary.</ref>

Several of his poems were set to music by [[Maurice Jaubert]].

==Works==
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===Theatrical productions===
* ''[[Siegfried (play)|Siegfried]]'' (1928, premiere at the [[Comédie des Champs-Élysées]])
* ''[[Amphitryon 38]]'' (1929 premiere, Comédie des Champs-Élysées)
* ''[[Judith (Giraudoux)|Judith]]'' (1931, [[Théâtre Pigalle]])
* ''[[Intermezzo (play)|The Enchanted]]''  (1933, Comédie des Champs-Élysées)
* ''[[Tessa (play)|Tessa]]'' (1934, [[Théâtre de l'Athénée]])
* ''[[The Virtuous Island|Supplément au voyage de Cook]]'' (1935, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[The Trojan War Will Not Take Place]]'' (1935, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[Electra (Giraudoux)|Electra]]'' (1937, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[L'Impromptu de Paris]]'' (1937, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[Song of Songs (Giraudoux)|Song of Songs]]'' (1938, [[Comédie-Française]])
* ''[[Ondine (play)|Ondine]]''  (1939, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[The Apollo of Bellac]]'' (1942, [[Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro)]])
* ''[[Sodom and Gomorrah (play)|Sodom and Gomorrah]]'' (1943, [[Théâtre Hébertot]])
* ''[[The Madwoman of Chaillot]]'' (1945, Théâtre de l'Athénée)
* ''[[Duel of Angels]] (Pour Lucrèce)'' (1953, [[Théâtre Marigny]])
* ''[[Les Gracques]]'' (unfinished; published 1958)

===Films===
* ''The Duchess of Langeais'' (1942), adaptation and dialogue<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0179161/ The Duchess of Langeais] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]</ref>
* '' [[Angels of the Streets]]'' (1943), screenplay<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035636/ Les anges du péché] at the [[Internet Movie Database]]</ref>

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===Publications===
* ''Provinciales'' (1909)
* ''L'École des indifférents'' (1911)
* ''Lectures pour une ombre'' (1917)
* ''Simon le Pathétique'' (1918)
* ''L'Adieu à la guerre'' (1919) Grasset<ref>{{cite web|author=GIRAUDOUX Jean |url=https://www.amazon.com/GIRAUDOUX-Jean-Adieu-%C3%A0-guerre/dp/B00FZVZ3IS |title=GIRAUDOUX Jean & – Adieu à la guerre.: GIRAUDOUX Jean & |website=Amazon |date=1919-01-01 |access-date=2014-06-03}}</ref>
* ''Elpénor'' (1919)
* ''Amica America'' (1919)
* ''Adorable Clio'' (1920)
* ''Suzanne et le Pacifique'' (1921)
* ''[[Siegfried et le Limousin]]'' (1922)
* ''Juliette au pays des hommes'' (1924)
* ''Bella'' (1926)
* ''Églantine'' (1927)
* ''Aventures de Jérôme Bardini'' (1930)
* ''La France sentimentale'' (1932)
* '' [[Combat avec l'ange]] '' (1934)
* ''Choix des élues'' (1939)
* ''[[Pleins pouvoirs (Giraudoux)|Pleins pouvoirs]]'' (1939)
* ''Armistice à Bordeaux'' (1945)
* ''Sans pouvoirs'' (1946)
* ''La Menteuse'' (1958)
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===English-language collections===
* Giraudoux, Jean (1958),'' Four Plays'', Adapted by Maurice Valency. New York: Hill and Wang, Inc. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/807008 OCLC 807008] [Volume 1: ''Ondine, Enchanted, Madwoman of Challot, Apollo of Bellac'']
* Giraudoux, Jean (1964),'' Three Plays, vol. 2'', Translated by Phyllis La Farge and Peter H. Judd. New York: Hill and Wang. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/751419 OCLC 751419] [Volume 2: ''Siegfried, Amphitryon 38, Electra''] 
* Giraudoux, Jean (1963),'' Three Plays'', Translated by Christopher Fry. New York: Oxford University Press. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/21419365 OCLC 21419365] [Volume I: ''Tiger at the Gates; Duel of Angels; Judith'']
* Giraudoux, Jean (1967), ''Plays, vol. 2'', Translated by Roger Gellert. London: Oxford University Press. [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/656767230 OCLC 656767230] [''Amphitryon; Intermezzo; Ondine'']

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Cohen, Robert (1968), '' Giraudoux; Three Faces of Destiny'', University of Chicago Press, Chicago, {{ISBN|0-226-11248-9}}.
* Fletcher, John (1972), '' Forces in Modern French Drama'', Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., New York, {{ISBN|0-8044-2199-4}}.
* Fowlie, Wallace (1967), '' Dionysus in Paris; A Guide to Contemporary French Theater'', Meridian Books, Inc, New York, {{ISBN|0-452-00092-0}}.
* Grossvogel, David I. (1958), '' 20th Century French Drama '', Columbia University Press, New York.
* Inskip, Donald, (1958), '' Jean Giraudoux, The Making of a Dramatist'', Oxford University Press, New York.
* Knowles, Dorothy (1968), '' French Drama of the Inter-War Years, 1918–39'', Barnes & Noble, Inc., New York.
* LeSage, Laurent (1959), '' Jean Giraudoux; His Life and Works'', The Pennsylvania State University Press.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
{{wikisourcelang|fr|Auteur:Jean Giraudoux}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=51078}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{iobdb name|15080}}
* {{IMDb name|320824}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giraudoux, Jean}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1944 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century French essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century French diplomats]]
[[Category:20th-century French dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:Burials at Passy Cemetery]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:École Normale Supérieure alumni]]
[[Category:French fantasy writers]]
[[Category:Lycée Lakanal alumni]]
[[Category:People from Haute-Vienne]]
[[Category:Prix Blumenthal]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:French satirists]]
[[Category:French satirical dramatists and playwrights]]