22 Facts About Alain-Fournier

Alain-Fournier was the author of a single novel, Le Grand Meaulnes, which has been filmed twice and is considered a classic of French literature.

Alain-Fournier was born in La Chapelle-d'Angillon, in the Cher departement, in central France, the son of school teachers.

Alain-Fournier had a younger sister, Isabelle, to whom he was very close.

Alain-Fournier was one of his first readers, his confidante and most constant friend and support-system throughout his life.

Alain-Fournier studied at the Lycee Lakanal in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, near Paris, where he prepared for the entrance examination to the Ecole Normale Superieure.

Alain-Fournier met there fellow student Jacques Riviere, and the two became close friends, though it took a while as Henri's rebellious and playful nature first kept Jacques at bay.

Alain-Fournier was then the leader of a group of boys who were fighting against hazing, and circulating revolutionary petitions.

Alain-Fournier was amazed and followed her aboard a river boat and in the streets, to the house she was staying at.

Alain-Fournier came back there a few times in the following days, hoping to meet her.

Alain-Fournier followed her again aboard a streetcar, inside a church and in the streets, until he plucked up the courage to talk to her.

Alain-Fournier attended a garden-party in Chiswick that later served as an inspiration for Frantz De Galais' wedding party in "Le Grand Meaulnes".

Alain-Fournier wrote and shared with him his latest poem "A travers les etes", that tells the tale of their encounter.

Alain-Fournier contemplated becoming a sailor as he loved the ocean, but he didn't follow through, as he had reservations about the work environment.

Alain-Fournier shared in several letters experiences that clearly show his emotional distress at the time, such as getting lost while on his way home and feeling like a stranger in a strange land, or spending all day wandering in the rain and having nightmares at night where he couldn't recognize his house and no one could hear him call out for help.

Alain-Fournier wrote her several romantic and passionate letters which show how much he wanted to share with her his ideal about love and hoped to teach her how to believe in true love the way he did.

Alain-Fournier started writing "Le Grand Meaulnes" in 1910, at his parents' house.

Alain-Fournier introduced him to her mother, her sister and her children, and they could talk about their first encounter and what it meant to them.

In 1914, Alain-Fournier started to work on a second novel, Colombe Blanchet, but this remained unfinished when he had to join the Army as a lieutenant that August.

Alain-Fournier died fighting near Vaux-les-Palameix one month later, on 22 September 1914.

Alain-Fournier's body remained unidentified until 1991, at which time he was buried in the cemetery of Saint-Remy-la-Calonne.

In 1975, L'Association des Amis de Jacques Riviere et d'Alain-Fournier was founded by Alain Riviere, the son of Jacques Riviere and nephew of Alain-Fournier, to "promote knowledge of these two authors and to gather their friends together".

Alain-Fournier has inspired the artist Jean-Louis Berthod, from Albens, who carved in 2014 a limewood board 130 by 140 centimetres inspired by Le Grand Meaulnes.