Editing Anatole France (section)

==Literary career==
France began his literary career as a poet and a journalist. In 1869, ''[[Le Parnasse contemporain]]'' published one of his poems, "{{lang|fr|La Part de Madeleine|italic=unset}}". In 1875, he sat on the committee in charge of the third ''Parnasse contemporain'' compilation. As a journalist, from 1867, he wrote many articles and notices. He became known with the novel ''{{lang|fr|Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard}}'' (1881).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/french-literature-biographies/anatole-france |title=France, Anatole |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.Com, Cengage |year=2018 |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref> Its protagonist, skeptical old scholar Sylvester Bonnard, embodied France's own personality. The novel was praised for its elegant prose and won him a prize from the Académie Française.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Prix+Montyon+de+l%27Acad%C3%A9mie+fran%C3%A7aise |title=Book awards: Prix Montyon de l'Académie française: Book awards by cover. |work=LibraryThing |access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref> [[File:Anatole France house, Villa Said.jpg|thumb|left|France's home, 5 {{lang|fr|[[villa Saïd]]|italic=unset}}, 1894–1924]]

In ''{{lang|fr|[[At the Sign of the Reine Pédauque|La Rotisserie de la Reine Pedauque]]}}'' (1893) France ridiculed belief in the [[occult]], and in ''{{lang|fr|Les Opinions de Jérôme Coignard}}'' (1893), France captured the atmosphere of the ''{{lang|fr|[[fin de siècle]]}}''. He was elected to the Académie Française in 1896.<ref>{{cite book |author=Virtanen, Reino |title=Anatole France |location=New York |publisher=Twayne Publishers, Inc.  |date=1968 |page=88}}</ref>

France took a part in the [[Dreyfus affair]]. He signed [[Émile Zola]]'s manifesto supporting [[Alfred Dreyfus]], a Jewish army officer who had been falsely convicted of [[espionage]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Tekijä, jonka |url=http://authorscalendar.info/afrance.htm |title=Anatole France (1844-1924)- pseudonym for Jacques Anatole Francois Thibault |location= |publisher=Authors’ Calendar. books and writers |date= |page=|access-date=11 June 2022}}</ref> France wrote about the affair in his 1901 novel ''Monsieur Bergeret''.

France's later works include ''[[Penguin Island (novel)|Penguin Island]]'' (''{{Lang|fr|L'Île des Pingouins}},'' 1908) which satirizes human nature by depicting the transformation of penguins into humans – after the birds have been baptized by mistake by the almost-blind Abbot Mael. It is a satirical [[history of France]], starting in medieval times, going on to the author's own time with special attention to the Dreyfus affair and concluding with a [[dystopia]]n future. ''[[The Gods Are Athirst]]'' (''{{lang|fr|Les dieux ont soif}}'', 1912) is a novel, set in Paris during the [[French Revolution]], about a true-believing follower of [[Maximilien Robespierre]] and his contribution to the bloody events of the [[Reign of Terror]] of 1793–94. It is a wake-up call against political and ideological fanaticism and explores various other philosophical approaches to the events of the time. ''[[The Revolt of the Angels]] ({{Lang|fr|La Révolte des Anges}}'', 1914) is often considered France's most profound and ironic novel. Loosely based on the Christian understanding of the [[War in Heaven]], it tells the story of Arcade, the guardian angel of Maurice d'Esparvieu. Bored because Bishop d'Esparvieu is sinless, Arcade begins reading the bishop's books on theology and becomes an atheist. He moves to Paris, meets a woman, falls in love, and loses his virginity causing his wings to fall off, joins the revolutionary movement of fallen angels, and meets the Devil, who realizes that if he overthrew God, he would become just like God. Arcade realizes that replacing God with another is meaningless unless "in ourselves and in ourselves alone we attack and destroy [[Yaldabaoth|Ialdabaoth]]." "Ialdabaoth", according to France, is God's secret name and means "the child who wanders".

[[File:Anatole France 1921.jpg|thumb|France {{Circa|1921}}]]

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. He died on 13 October 1924<ref name=NYT10131924/> and is buried in the [[Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery|Neuilly-sur-Seine Old Communal Cemetery]] near Paris.

On 31 May 1922, France's entire works were put on the ''[[Index Librorum Prohibitorum]]'' ("List of Prohibited Books") of the [[Catholic Church]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/indexlibrorum.html |title=Modern History Sourcebook: ''{{lang|la|Index librorum prohibitorum|nocat=y}}'', 1557–1966 (Index of Prohibited Books) |first=Paul |last=Halsall |date=May 1998 |publisher=[[Internet History Sourcebooks Project]] ([[Fordham University]]) }}</ref> He regarded this as a "distinction".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_current-opinion_1922-08_73_2/page/295/mode/1up?q=Anatole |title=ANATOLE FRANCE REGARDS IT AS A "DISTINCTION" TO HAVE HIS BOOKS BANNED BY THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH |work=Current Opinion |date=September 1922 |page=295 |access-date=30 September 2023}}</ref> This Index was abolished in 1966.