Henry Millon de Montherlant

French novelist and playwright. Born in Paris. Grew up under the influence of Barrès as an aristocrat. A veteran of World War I, he made his literary debut with "The Morning Shift" (1920), which depicts student life before the war. He established himself as a writer with "The Dream" (1922), "The Olympian" (1924), and "The Bullfighter" (1926), which feature young men who pursue the dream of becoming free and trying to control everything with their own will. However, he too could not escape the anxiety that pervaded the times, and for several years he wandered around Africa as a "displaced traveler", acquiring a pessimistic and arrogant idea of ​​elitism, and returned to the literary world with "The Bachelors" (1934). He further published a series of misogynistic tetralogy, "Young Girls" (1936), "Pity for Woman" (1936), "The Good Devil" (1937), and "Women with Leprosy" (1939), which garnered a great deal of attention.

During World War II, he was seen as a collaborator with Germany, but in 1942 he published a translation of the Spanish classic, "The Dead Queen," and thereafter his interest shifted to playwriting, and he became a central figure in postwar theater, taking historical themes and putting on stage the fate of a lonely man searching for the absolute in plays such as "Le Grand Master of the Holy Knights of Santiago" (1947), "Paul Royal" (1954), and "The Cardinal of Spain" (1960). In his later years, he returned to novels, leaving behind works such as "Chaos and Night" (1963), "Rose of the Desert" (1968), and "My Boss is a Murderer" (1971), but he committed suicide by shooting himself with a pistol after he was at risk of going blind. Other works that were widely popular among the youth of the interwar period include the essay collections "At the Fountain of Desire" (1927), "Wasteful Service" (1935), and "Autumnal Equinox" (1938). In 1960, he was elected a member of the Académie Française.

[Watanabe Kazutami]

"Watanabe Kazutami's translation of "World Literature Collection 24: Bachelors" (1965, Shueisha)" ▽ "Shinjo Yoshiaki's translation of "Chaos and Night" (1968, Shinchosha)" ▽ "Asahina Yoshitaka's translation of "Paul Royal, Cardinal of Spain" (included in "World Literature Series 72", 1975, Chikuma Shobo)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの小説家、劇作家。パリ生まれ。貴族としてバレスの影響下に育つ。彼は第一次世界大戦の復員兵の一人で、戦前の学生生活を描く『朝の交代』（1920）で文壇にデビュー。続いて、己の意志ですべてを支配しようとする自由人の夢を追い続ける青年を主人公とする作品『夢』（1922）、『オリンピック選手』（1924）、『闘牛士』（1926）によって作家としての地位を確立した。しかし彼も時代を覆う不安を免れることができず、数年にわたり「追いたてられた旅行者」としてアフリカ各地を放浪、ペシミズムに彩られた倨傲(きょごう)な選民思想を身につけ、『独身者たち』（1934）により文壇復帰。さらに女性蔑視(べっし)に貫かれた四部作『若き娘たち』（1936）、『女性への憐憫(れんびん)』（1936）、『善の悪魔』（1937）、『癩(らい)を病む女たち』（1939）を刊行して大きな反響をよんだ。

　第二次大戦中、対独協力派とみられたが、1942年スペイン古典劇の翻訳『死せる女王』を発表、以後その関心は劇作に傾き、『サンチャゴの聖騎士団長』（1947）、『ポール・ロアイヤル』（1954）、『イスパニアの枢機卿(すうききょう)』（1960）など歴史に題材を得て絶対を探求する孤独な人間の運命を舞台に上らせ、戦後演劇の中心的存在となった。晩年ふたたび小説に戻り、『混沌(こんとん)と夜』（1963）、『砂漠のバラ』（1968）、『殺人者はわが上司』（1971）などを残したが、失明の危険にさらされてピストル自殺を遂げた。ほかに両次大戦間の青春に広くもてはやされた作品として、エッセイ集『欲望の泉のほとりで』（1927）、『無駄奉公』（1935）、『秋分』（1938）などがある。60年アカデミー・フランセーズ会員に選出された。

［渡辺一民］

『渡辺一民訳『世界文学全集24　独身者たち』（1965・集英社）』▽『新庄嘉章訳『混沌と夜』（1968・新潮社）』▽『朝比奈誼訳『ポール・ロワイヤル　イスパニア枢機卿』（『世界文学大系72』所収・1975・筑摩書房）』

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