Editing Marcel Proust (section)

==Biography==
Proust was born on 10 July 1871 at the home of his great-uncle in the Paris Borough of [[Auteuil, Paris|Auteuil]] (the south-western sector of the then-rustic [[16th arrondissement of Paris|16th arrondissement]]), two months after the [[Treaty of Frankfurt (1871)|Treaty of Frankfurt]] formally ended the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. His birth coincided with the beginning of the [[French Third Republic]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ellison|first=David|title=A Reader's Guide to Proust's 'In Search of Lost Time'|year=2010|pages=8}}</ref> during the violence that surrounded the suppression of the [[Paris Commune]], and his childhood corresponded with the consolidation of the Republic. Much of ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' concerns the vast changes, most particularly the decline of the aristocracy and the rise of the middle classes, that occurred in France during the ''[[fin de siècle]].''

Proust's father, [[Adrien Proust]], was a prominent French [[pathologist]] and [[Epidemiology|epidemiologist]], studying [[cholera]] in Europe and Asia. He wrote numerous articles and books on medicine and hygiene. Proust's mother, Jeanne Clémence (maiden name: Weil), was the daughter of a wealthy [[History of the Jews in Germany|German–Jewish]] family from [[Alsace]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Allan|last=Massie|title=Madame Proust: A Biography By Evelyne Bloch-Dano, translated by Alice Kaplan|work=Literary Review|url=http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/massie_10_07.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212151419/http://www.literaryreview.co.uk/massie_10_07.html |archive-date=12 February 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> Literate and well-read, she demonstrated a well-developed sense of humour in her letters, and her command of the [[English language]] was sufficient to help with her son's translations of [[John Ruskin]].<ref name="Tadié">Tadié, J-Y. (Euan Cameron, trans.) ''Marcel Proust: A life''. New York: Penguin Putnam, 2000.</ref> Proust was raised in his father's [[Catholicism|Catholic faith]].<ref>[http://www.nysoclib.org/travels/proust.html NYSL TRAVELS: Paris: Proust's Time Regained] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127020446/http://www.nysoclib.org/travels/proust.html|date=27 January 2012}}</ref> He was baptized on 5 August 1871 at the [[Saint-Louis-d'Antin|Church of Saint-Louis-d'Antin]] and later confirmed as a Catholic, but he never formally practised that faith. He later became an [[Atheism|atheist]] and was something of a [[Mysticism|mystic]].<ref>Edmund White (2009). Marcel Proust: A Life. Penguin. {{ISBN|9780143114987}}. "Marcel Proust was the son of a Christian father and a Jewish mother. He himself was baptized (on August 5, 1871, at the church of Saint-Louis d'Antin) and later [[Confirmation in the Catholic Church|confirmed as a Roman Catholic]], but he never practised that faith and as an adult could best be described as a mystical atheist, someone imbued with spirituality who nonetheless did not believe in a personal God, much less in a savior."</ref><ref>Proust, Marcel (1999). The Oxford dictionary of quotations. Oxford University Press. p. 594. {{ISBN|978-0-19-860173-9}}. "...the highest praise of God consists in the denial of him by the atheist who finds creation so perfect that it can dispense with a creator."</ref>

By the age of nine, Proust had had his first serious [[asthma]] attack, and thereafter was considered a sickly child. Proust spent long holidays in the village of [[Illiers-Combray|Illiers]]. This village, combined with recollections of his great-uncle's house in Auteuil, became the model for the fictional town of Combray, where some of the most important scenes of ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' take place. (Illiers was renamed Illiers-Combray in 1971 on the occasion of the Proust centenary celebrations.)

In 1882, at the age of eleven, Proust became a pupil at the [[Lycée Condorcet]]; however, his education was disrupted by his illness. Despite this, he excelled in literature, receiving an award in his final year. Thanks to his classmates, he was able to gain access to some of the salons of the upper [[bourgeoisie]], providing him with copious material for ''In Search of Lost Time''.<ref>Painter, George D. (1959) ''Marcel Proust: a biography''; Vols. 1 & 2. London: Chatto & Windus</ref>
[[File:Marcel Proust et Lucien Daudet.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Marcel Proust (seated), [[Robert de Flers]] (left), and [[Lucien Daudet]] (right), {{circa|1894}}]]

In spite of his poor health, Proust served a year (1889–90) in the French army, stationed at Coligny Barracks in [[Orléans]], an experience that provided a lengthy episode in ''[[The Guermantes' Way]]'', part three of his novel. As a young man, Proust was a [[Amateur|dilettante]] and a [[social climber]] whose aspirations as a writer were hampered by his lack of self-discipline. His reputation from this period, as a snob and an amateur, contributed to his later troubles with getting ''[[Swann's Way]]'', the first part of his large-scale novel, published in 1913. At this time, he attended the ''salons'' of [[Geneviève Halévy|Mme Straus]], widow of [[Georges Bizet]] and mother of Proust's childhood friend Jacques Bizet, of [[Madeleine Lemaire]] and of [[Léontine Lippmann|Mme Arman de Caillavet]], one of the models for Madame Verdurin, and mother of his friend [[Gaston Arman de Caillavet]], with whose fiancée (Jeanne Pouquet) he was in love. It is through Mme Arman de Caillavet, he made the acquaintance of [[Anatole France]], her lover.

Proust had a close relationship with his mother. To appease his father, who insisted that he pursue a career, Proust obtained a volunteer position at [[Bibliothèque Mazarine]] in the summer of 1896. After exerting considerable effort, he obtained a sick leave that extended for several years until he was considered to have resigned. He never worked at his job, and he did not move from his parents' apartment until after both were dead.<ref name="Tadié"/>

His life and family circle changed markedly between 1900 and 1905. In February 1903, Proust's brother, [[Robert Proust]], married and left the family home. His father died in November of the same year.<ref>Carter (2002)</ref> Finally, and most crushingly, Proust's beloved mother died in September 1905. She left him a considerable inheritance. His health throughout this period continued to deteriorate.

Proust spent the last three years of his life mostly confined to his bedroom of his apartment 44 rue Hamelin<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.france-memoire.fr/mort-de-marcel-proust/ |title=Mort de Marcel Proust |date=4 January 2022 |access-date=18 March 2023 |archive-date=18 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318075623/https://www.france-memoire.fr/mort-de-marcel-proust/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|year=2022|title=La Maîtresse de Proust|page=193|author=Gilberto Schwartsmann, Emmanuel Tugny, Pascale Privey}}</ref> (in [[Chaillot]]), sleeping during the day and working at night to complete his novel.<ref>Marcel Proust: Revolt against the Tyranny of Time. Harry Slochower .''The Sewanee Review'', 1943.</ref> He died of [[pneumonia]] and a [[Lung abscess|pulmonary abscess]] in 1922. He was buried in the [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 38123-38124). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.</ref>

===Personal life===
Proust is known to have been [[Homosexuality|homosexual]]; his sexuality and [[Same-sex relationship|relationships with men]] are often discussed by his biographers.<ref>Painter (1959), White (1998), Tadié (2000), Carter (2002 and 2006)</ref> Although his housekeeper, [[Céleste Albaret]], denies this aspect of Proust's sexuality in her memoirs,<ref>Albaret (2003)</ref> her denial runs contrary to the statements of many of Proust's friends and contemporaries, including his fellow writer [[André Gide]]<ref>Harris (2002)</ref> as well as his [[valet]] Ernest A. Forssgren.<ref>Forssgren (2006)</ref>

Proust never openly disclosed his homosexuality, though his family and close friends either knew or suspected it. In 1897, he fought a duel with writer [[Jean Lorrain#Duel|Jean Lorrain]], who publicly questioned the nature of Proust's relationship with Proust's lover<ref>{{cite web |last=White |first=Edmund |title=Marcel Proust |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/white-proust.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710132920/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/w/white-proust.html |archive-date=10 July 2018 |access-date=2 May 2022}}</ref> [[Lucien Daudet]]; both duellists survived.<ref>{{cite web |author=Hall, Sean Charles |date=12 February 2012 |title=Dueling Dandies: How Men Of Style Displayed a Blasé Demeanor In the Face of Death |url=http://www.dandyism.net/2024/04/15/dueling-dandies/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911060214/http://www.dandyism.net/2012/02/12/dueling-dandies |archive-date=11 September 2019 |access-date=6 November 2024 |website=Dandyism}}</ref> Despite Proust's public denials, his romantic relationship with composer [[Reynaldo Hahn]]<ref name="carter"/> and his infatuation with his chauffeur and secretary, Alfred Agostinelli, are well documented.<ref>{{cite news|work=Salon|date=1 June 2000|title=Proust's dearest pleasures: The best of a slew of recent biographies points to the author's conscious self-closeting|author=Whitaker, Rick|url=http://www.salon.com/2000/06/01/proust/|access-date=18 May 2016|archive-date=5 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160605041544/http://www.salon.com/2000/06/01/proust/|url-status=live}}</ref> On the night of 11 January 1918, Proust was one of the men identified by police in a raid on a male [[brothel]] run by Albert Le Cuziat.<ref>Murat, Laure (May 2005). "Proust, Marcel, 46 ans, rentier: Un individu 'aux allures de pédéraste' fiche à la police", ''La Revue littéraire'' 14: 82–93; Carter (2006)</ref> Proust's friend [[Paul Morand]] openly teased Proust about his visits to [[Male prostitution|male prostitutes]]. In his journal, Morand refers to Proust, as well as Gide, as "constantly hunting, never satiated by their adventures ... eternal prowlers, tireless sexual adventurers."<ref>Morand, Paul. ''Journal inutile, tome 2: 1973 – 1976'', ed. Laurent Boyer and Véronique Boyer. Paris: Gallimard, 2001; Carter (2006)</ref>

The exact influence of Proust's sexuality on his writing is a topic of debate.<ref>Sedgwick (1992); O'Brien (1949)</ref> However, ''[[In Search of Lost Time]]'' discusses homosexuality at length and features several principal characters, both men and women, who are either homosexual or [[Bisexuality|bisexual]]: the Baron de Charlus, Robert de Saint-Loup, Odette de Crécy, and Albertine Simonet.<ref>Sedgwick (1992); Ladenson (1999); Bersani (2013)</ref> Homosexuality also appears as a theme in ''[[Les plaisirs et les jours]]'' and his unfinished novel, ''[[Jean Santeuil]]''.

Proust inherited much of his mother's political outlook, which was supportive of the [[French Third Republic]] and near the [[Classical liberalism|liberal]] [[Centrism|centre]] of French politics.<ref name="Hughes">{{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Edward J.|title=Proust, Class, and Nation|year=2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=19–46}}</ref> In an 1892 article published in ''Le Banquet'' entitled "L'Irréligion d'État", Proust condemned extreme [[Anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] measures such as the expulsion of monks, observing that "one might just be surprised that the negation of religion should bring in its wake the same [[fanaticism]], intolerance, and persecution as religion itself."<ref name="Hughes" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Carter |first1=William C. |title=Marcel Proust: A Life, with a New Preface by the Author |date=2013 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=346}}</ref> He argued that [[socialism]] posed a greater threat to society than the Church.<ref name="Hughes" /> He was equally critical of the right, lambasting "the insanity of the conservatives," whom he deemed "as dumb and ungrateful as under [[Charles X of France|Charles X]]," and referring to [[Pope Pius X]]'s obstinacy as foolish.<ref name="Watson">{{cite journal |last1=Watson |first1=D. R. |title=Sixteen Letters of Marcel Proust to Joseph Reinach |journal=The Modern Language Review |date=1968 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=587–599 |jstor=3722199 |doi=10.2307/3722199 }}</ref> Proust always rejected the bigoted and illiberal views harbored by many priests at the time, but believed that the most enlightened clerics could be just as progressive as the most enlightened secularists, and that both could serve the cause of "the advanced liberal Republic".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sprinker |first1=Michael |title=History and Ideology in Proust: A la Recherche Du Temps Perdu and the Third French Republic |date=1998 |publisher=Verso |pages=45–46}}</ref> He approved of the more moderate stance taken in 1906 by [[Aristide Briand]], whom he described as "admirable".<ref name="Watson" />

Proust was among the earliest [[Dreyfus Affair|Dreyfusards]], even attending [[Émile Zola]]'s trial and proudly claiming to have been the one who asked [[Anatole France]] to sign the petition in support of [[Alfred Dreyfus]]'s innocence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bales |first1=Richard |title=The Cambridge Companion to Proust |url=https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00bale |url-access=limited |date=2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/cambridgecompani00bale/page/n21 21]}}</ref> In 1919, when representatives of the right-wing [[Action Française]] published a manifesto upholding [[French colonialism]] and the [[Catholic Church]] as the embodiment of civilised values, Proust rejected their nationalistic and chauvinistic views in favor of a [[Classical liberalism|liberal]] [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralist]] vision which acknowledged [[Christianity in France|Christianity]]'s [[Culture of France|cultural legacy in France]].<ref name="Hughes" /> [[Julien Benda]] commended Proust in ''La Trahison des clercs'' as a writer who distinguished himself from his generation by avoiding the twin traps of nationalism and class sectarianism.<ref name="Hughes" />

Because of his allergies and frequent asthma attacks, and the misunderstanding of the disease at the time,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Marcel Proust (1871-1922): reassessment of his asthma and other maladies |date=2000 |pmid=10853866 |url=https://publications.ersnet.org/content/erj/15/5/958 |last1=Sharma |first1=O. P. |journal=The European Respiratory Journal |volume=15 |issue=5 |pages=958–960 |doi=10.1034/j.1399-3003.2000.15e25.x }}</ref> Proust was considered a [[Hypochondriasis|hypochondriac]] by his doctors. His correspondence provides some clues on his symptoms.{{Clarification needed|date=January 2024}} According to Yellowlees Douglas, Proust suffered from the [[Ehlers–Danlos syndromes#Vascular EDS|vascular subtype of Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Douglas |first=Yellowlees |date=2016-05-01 |title=The real malady of Marcel Proust and what it reveals about diagnostic errors in medicine |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27063078/ |journal=Medical Hypotheses |volume=90 |pages=14–18 |doi=10.1016/j.mehy.2016.02.024 |issn=1532-2777 |pmid=27063078 |access-date=15 November 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221115120604/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27063078/ |url-status=live }}</ref>