André Gide

Andre Gide (1869-1951) was born in Paris to a wealthy Protestant family and raised in an atmosphere of strict moral rectitude that he spent his life both absorbing and rebelling against. He studied at the Ecole Alsacienne and began publishing in his early twenties, quickly establishing himself as a central figure in French literary life. His travels to North Africa in the 1890s awakened him to his homosexuality, a realization that shaped his work and his tumultuous personal life, including his marriage to his cousin Madeleine Rondeaux. This author hub collects 2 works in the Canon Compass ranking, led by The Counterfeiters.