Collection: Paul Morand

Paul Morand was born in Paris in 1888, the son of painter and playwright Eugène Morand. After attending the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, he chose a diplomatic career, which he pursued alongside his writing.

Having passed the competitive exam for diplomatic service, he was appointed to London, where he observed a society that would inspire his work. World War I brought him back to Paris, to the cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. There, he met Marcel Proust, who wrote the preface for Morand's first collection, Tendres stocks(1921), a year before Proust's death. Morand's fame came suddenly.

Ouvert la nuit (1922), launched by Bernard Grasset, made Morand a successful author. His fast, elliptical style, focused on cities and speed, appealed to a post-war generation tired of solemnity. An illustrated edition followed in 1924.

A diplomat and writer, he traveled constantly: New York, Asia, Africa, South America. These travels became literary material, from Chroniques du XXe siècle to portraits of cities like London or Bucharest.

His marriage in 1927 to Princess Hélène Soutzo provided him with financial ease that did not hinder his independence. The 1930s saw him move from novels to chronicles, plays, and biographies.

The 1930s saw him compromise himself: an admitted antisemitism, followed by collaboration with the Vichy regime, which appointed him ambassador to Bucharest and then to Bern. Dismissed at the Liberation, forbidden to publish, he went into exile in Switzerland, where he wrote some of his best books.

Rehabilitated in the 1950s, supported by young writers known as the Hussards, Morand regained his place.

His election to the Académie Française, long blocked by the hostility of General de Gaulle, only occurred in 1968, when he was eighty years old. He died in 1976.About the Work. Morand explored all genres: poetry, short stories, novels, travel narratives, city portraits, biographies, chronicles, and journals.

Most notably remembered are the short stories from the 1920s, Ouvert la nuit, Fermé la nuit, the Chroniques du XXe siècle, and, later, Venises (1971). His language, precise and concise, thrives on brevity.Original editions, fine papers, and dedications by Paul Morand are available in the catalog of the KOEGUI bookstore in Bayonne.

Also discover: original editions by Joseph Kessel, a fellow traveler of the interwar period, and André Gide, another great stylist of French prose. Browse all our 20th-century original editions or our 20th-century literature.