Who was Marcel Proust?
Marcel Proust is regarded as one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century. His most celebrated work, A la recherche du temps perdu (In Search of Lost Time, or Remembrance of Things Past), was in many respects the story of his own life. Proust was born July 10, 1871, in Auteuil, France, a suburb of Paris. The son of a prominent Catholic doctor and a wealthy Jewish mother, he enjoyed a privileged upbringing, attending private schools and spending summers in the countryside or at the seashore. He was a sickly child, however, and nearly died from asthma at age 9. Although his health was fragile his entire life, Proust served briefly in the army, an experience he remembered fondly. After that, his father tried to pressure him into a diplomatic career. Proust studied law and philosophy at the Sorbonne, but ultimately decided to follow his passion for literature. He published his first work, Les plaisirs et les jours (Pleasures and Days), in 1896. In his late teens, Proust began a
