Background
Hermant was born in Paris, the son of an architect.
essayist linguist novelist playwright writer
Hermant was born in Paris, the son of an architect.
École Normale Supérieure.
He received a degree from the École Normale Supérieure in 1880, and published his first volume of verse in 1883, The Contempt. His first semi-autobiographical novel, Monsieur Rabosson of 1884, established his reputation as a satirical social observer. Its follow-up Le Cavalier Miserey of 1887, dealt with the issue of homosexuals in the military.
After a number of tries Hermant was elected to the Académie française on 30 June 1927.
During World World War II Hermant"s contributions to Jean Luchaire"s pro-Nazi evening daily Les Nouveaux Temps, beginning in 1940, his open support of the Vichy regime, and his criticisms of the French Army, marked him as a collaborator. At over 80 years of age, he was sentenced to life in prison on 15 December 1945.
Hermant and Abel Bonnard were expelled outright, in disgrace. Charles Maurras of Action Française and Marshall Philippe Pétain had their seats declared vacant and were not replaced until their deaths.
Pardoned and released in 1948, Abel Hermant tried to justify his conduct during the Occupation in his Thirteenth Notebook.
He died shortly thereafter.
Between 1901 and 1937 Hermant embarked on a series of 20 linked novels with the general title Memoirs to Serve for a History of Society, but his contributions to literature included many popular plays, drama criticism for Le Figaro and Gil Blas, and a series of grammarian articles for Le Temps under the name "Lancelot" defending the purity of the French language.
Académie française.