Bernanos was born inParis, into a family of craftsmen. He spent much of his childhood in the village ofFressin,Pas-de-Calais region, which became a frequent setting for his novels. He served in theFirst World War as a soldier, where he fought in the battles of theSomme andVerdun. He was wounded several times.
A man ofRoyalist leanings and a member of theCamelots du Roi (Action Française's youth organization) when he was younger, Bernanos broke withCharles Maurras and the Action Française in 1932. He initially supportedFranco's coup at the outset of theSpanish Civil War.[5] However, after he observed the conflict inMallorca and saw 'a terrorized people,' he became disgusted with thenacionales and criticized them in the bookDiary of My Times (1938). He wrote, "My illusions regarding the enterprise ofGeneral Franco did not last long—two or three weeks—but while they lasted I conscientiously endeavoured to overcome the disgust which some of his men and means caused me."[6]
With political tensions rising in Europe, Bernanos emigrated to South America with his family in 1938, settling inBrazil. He remained until 1945 inBarbacena, State of Minas Gerais, where he tried his hand at managing a farm. His three sons returned to France to fight afterWorld War II broke out, while he fulminated at his country's 'spiritual exhaustion,' which he saw as the root of its collapse in 1940. From exile, he mocked the 'ridiculous'Vichy regime and became a strong supporter of theFree French led byCharles De Gaulle. After France's Liberation, De Gaulle invited Bernanos to return to his homeland, offering him a post in the government. Bernanos did return but, disappointed to perceive no signs of spiritual renewal, he declined to play an active role in French political life.[7]
The Diary of a Country Priest 1936 in Paris, France; London: The Bodley Head, 1937 [New York: Macmillan, 1948, 1962; Carroll & Graf, 1983, 2002]; San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2025 [new translation by Bernanos scholar Michael R. Tobin, the full, unabridged work is made available to English-language readers for the first time].
Dialogues des Carmélites: in 1947, Bernanos had been hired to write the dialogue for a film screenplay, through Raymond-Léopold Bruckberger and the scenario writer Philippe Agostini, based on thenovellaThe Song at the Scaffold by the German writerGertrud von Le Fort, about the 1794 execution of theCarmelite Nuns of Compiègne. The screenplay was judged unsatisfactory at the time. Following Bernanos' death his literary executor, Albert Béguin, discovered the manuscript. To assist Bernanos' heirs, Béguin sought to have the work published, requesting permission from Baroness von Le Fort for publication. In January 1949 she agreed, gifting her portion of the royalties over to Bernanos' widow and children. However, the Baroness requested that Bernanos' play be given a different title from her novella.[9] Béguin choseDialogues des Carmélites, and the work was published in 1949. It was translated into German, published there in 1951 asDie begnadete Angst (The Blessed Fear) and first staged inZürich andMunich that year.[10] The French stage première took place in May 1952 at theThéâtre Hébertot. The composerFrancis Poulenc adapted Bernanos' work into anopera of the same name, which was first performed atLa Scala Milan in 1957. Afilm based on Bernanos' play and starringJeanne Moreau was released in 1960.
^Allen, W. Gore (1948). "George Bernanos: A Mystic in the World,"The Irish Monthly, Vol. 76, No. 903, pp. 414-416.
^Tobin, Michael R. (2007).Georges Bernanos: The Theological Source of his Art. McGill-Queen's University Press.
^Norwich, John Julius (1985–1993).Oxford illustrated encyclopedia. Judge, Harry George., Toyne, Anthony. Oxford [England]: Oxford University Press. p. 45.ISBN0-19-869129-7.OCLC11814265.
^Hellman, John (1990). "Bernanos, Drumont, and the Rise of French Fascism,"The Review of Politics, Vol. 52, No. 3, pp. 441-459.
^Georges Bernanos.A Diary of My Times, London: Boriswood, 1938, p. 85.
^Gendre, Claude, 'The Literary Destiny of the Sixteen Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne and the Role of Emmet Lavery'.Renascence,48.1, pp. 37–60 (Fall 1995).
^Gendre, Claude, 'Dialogues des Carmélites: the historical background, literary destiny and genesis of the opera', fromFrancis Poulenc: Music, Art and Literature (Sidney Buckland and Myriam Chimènes, editors). Ashgate (Aldershot, UK),ISBN1859284078, p 287 (1999).
