Romain Rolland

Romain Rolland (1866–1944) was a French writer, dramatist, essayist, and musicologist. He studied at the École normale supérieure and developed an early interest in literature, music, and history. He gained international recognition with the ten-volume novel cycle “Jean-Christophe” (1904–1912), which portrays the life of a fictional composer. During the First World War, he published the pacifist essay “Au-dessus de la mêlée” (1914) and became an important voice in the international peace movement. His other works included biographies, notably of Beethoven and Leo Tolstoy. Rolland was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1915.