Essayist and poet; born Orleans, France, 1873; killed at the first battle of the Marne, 1914. A pupil of the College Sainte Barbe and of the Ecole Normale Superieure, and an ardent admirer of Renan and Taine, he lost his faith and became a decided atheist and Socialist. His devotion to Joan of Arc brought him back to Catholicism, but family difficulties prevented him from practising his faith, although it is impossible to doubt the sincerity of his conversion, for he fought relentlessly against French official atheism and its representatives at the Sorbonne. Principal works: Notre Jeunesse, Notre Patrie, Le Mystere de la Charite de Jeanne d' Arc. He belongs to the mystico-realistic School, but his style, like Claudel's, is often obscure and bizarre.