The Alain-Fournier Biography

Henri-Alban Fournier, who wrote under the pseudonym Alain-Fournier,was born October 3, 1886 at the Chapelle d’Anguillon where his parents were teachers. He spent his chilhood in the Sologne countryside .

In 1891, his father became a teacher at Epineuil le Fleurel and Alain was his pupil until the 5^THgrade. He then went away to boarding school at the Voltaire Lycee in Paris.

In 1901, he decided to join the navy and enrolled at the high school in Brest to prepare for the Naval School examination. One year later he changed his mind and instead prepared for his degree in Bourges

In 1903, Alain Fournier started his preperatory studies at Lakanal in Sceaux in order to prepare for entrance exam to the college of literature. It was here that he met his best friend Jacques Rivière. The two were to exchange important and passionate correspondance during the remainder of Fournier’s life.

On August 24, 1909Jacques Rivière married Isabelle, Alain Fournier’s sister and became his brother-in-law.

On this picture,  Alain-Fournier is 19 years old.

II.  The meeting (1905-1909)

On June 1, 1905, Ascension Day, Alain Fournier, a young 18 years student walked out of an exhibition of the Grand Palais in Paris and was suddenly faced with the girl of his dreams. He followed the young woman along the Cours La Reine, then on a boat untill her home 12Bd Saint Germain. He returned frequently to her home and his perseverance was later rewarded.

On June 10, he saw her face in a window. The young woman seemed surprised but smiled at him.

The next day, Pentecost, early in the morning, he saw the young woman leaving her home with a prayer book in the hand. He followed her to the trolley and whispered to her as she boarded " You are beautiful ". She ignored him but he continued to follow her to the church. At the end of the mass the two had a " long, beautiful, strange and mysterious conversation ". She asked him his name and then asked for her’s. She hestitated a second, but looking him straight in the eye and with great confidence she said with pride, " My name? I am Miss Yvonne de Quiévrecourt. "

Unfortunately, she askes that he does not try to see her again as she is engaged.

This encounter changed Meaulnes’s life and provided the basis for the Grand Meaulnes.

In 1906, exactly one year after their first encounter, he returned to the street where he had first seen her, hoping to see her again. He later wrote to his friend Jacques Rivière " She did not come. Even if she had, she would not have been the same girl. " That year he failed his entrance exam.

The following year, not only did he fail his exam again, but he also learned that Yvonne de Quièvrecourt had gotten married.

Between 1908 and 1909, he did his military service. Haunted by his memories of Yvonne, he wrote a number of poems and essays which were published under the title " The Miracles. "

In 1910, Alain Fournier went to work as a journalist for the Paris Journal. During this time he fell in love with Jeanne Bruneau, a seamstres, who would later provide the basis for the character of Valentine in his book " le Grand Meaulnes (The Wanderer) ".

From 1910 to 1912, while working as the personal assistant of the politician, Casimir Perrier, Alain-Fournier worked on his book.

In May,1913, eight years after their first encounter at the Grand Palais, Yvonne’s sister arranged for the two to meet. Yvonne was now the mother of two children. His persistent love for her, convinced Alain-Fournier that it was impossible for the two to be merely friends. They parted, never to meet again. It was then that Alain-Fournier started a love affair with Simone, an actress.

" Le grand Meaulnes (The Wanderer) " was first published in the July-October 1913 issue of the " Nouvelle Revue française " and then as a book. Although nominated for the prestigious Goncourt Prize, " Le grand Meaulnes (The Wanderer) " narrowly lost the prize to Marc Elder’s " Le Peuple de la Mer. "

In 1914, Alain-Fournier started work on a new book " Colombe Blanchet ", which remained unfinished as he had to join the army in August 1914 . One month later he was killed. He was just shy of his 28th birthday.

His body remained unidentified until 1991, at which time he was laid to rest in the cemetary of Saint Remy la Colonne.

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