Raised Protestant, his American Quaker mother was an heiress to the Haviland porcelain dynasty and his father was French. His brother-in-law was of the Delamain cognac dynasty. This informed his trilogy Les Destinées Sentimentales.[1] He was a leader of the Hussards and held in high regard for the award-winning Claire.
World War II
He supported collaboration with the Vichy and in 1940 produced "Private Chronicle 1940", which favored the submission of Europe to Adolf Hitler.[2] He was a member of the Groupe Collaboration, an initiative that encouraged close cultural ties between France and Germany.[3] In October 1941, Chardonne, with seven other French writers including Pierre Drieu la Rochelle, Marcel Jouhandeau et Robert Brasillach, accepted an invitation from Joseph Goebbels to visit Germany for a Congress of European Writers in Weimar. In his diary during the trip, Chardonne described how he wanted to "make [his] body a fraternal bridge between Germany and France".[4] After World War II he was denounced for Nazi collaboration[5] and spent time in prison.[6] In an article titled "Jacques Chardonne et Mein Kampf" the 'Frenchness' of his writing was also questioned.[7]
Death and rehabilitation
He died in 1968 after efforts to restore his image. By the 1980s anti-totalitarian journalists like Raymond Aron began to reappraise collaborationist authors like Chardonne.[8] In 1986 his award-winning Claire was made into a TV film[9] and in 2001 Olivier Assayas adapted Les Destinées Sentimentales to film.[10]
1921 : L'Épithalame (Paris, librairie Stock et Vienne, Larousse, 1921; Grasset, 1929; Ferenczi, 1933; Albin-Michel, 1951; S. C. Edit. Rencontre, Lausanne, 1961; L.G.F., 1972; Albin-Michel, 1987);
1927 : Le Chant du Bienheureux (Librairie Stock, 1927; Albin-Michel, 1951);
1929 : Les Varais, dédié à Maurice Delamain (Grasset, 1929; Ferenczi et fils, 1932; Albin-Michel, 1951; Grasset, 1989);
1930 : Eva ou le journal interrompu, dédié à Camille Belguise, sa seconde épouse (Grasset, 1930; Ferenczi et fils, 1935; Albin-Michel, 1951; Gallimard, 1983);
1931 : Claire, dédié à Henri Fauconnier (Grasset, 1931; Ferenczi et fils, 1936; Piazza, 1938; Albin-Michel, 1952; club du Livre du Mois, 1957; Rombaldi, 1975; Grasset, 1983);
1932 : L'Amour du Prochain, dédié « à mon fils Gérard » (Grasset, 1932; La Jeune Parque, 1947; Albin-Michel, 1955);
1934 : Les Destinées sentimentales (Grasset, 1934-1936), trilogie : La Femme de Jean Barnery, dédié à Jacques Delamain (id., 1934); Pauline (id., 1934); Porcelaine de Limoges (id., 1936; Grasset, 1947; Albin-Michel, 1951; L.G.F., 1984)
1937 : Romanesques, dédié à Paul Géraldy (Stock, 1937; édit. Colbert et Stock, 1943; Albin-Michel, 1954; La Table Ronde, 1996);
1937 : L'Amour, c'est beaucoup plus que l'amour, dédié « à Jean Rostand son ami » (Stock, 1937, 1941; Albin-Michel, 1957, puis 1992);
1938 : Le Bonheur de Barbezieux, dédié à Marcel Arland (Stock, 1938, 1943; Monaco, édit. du Rocher, 1947; Albin-Michel, 1955, Stock, 1980);
1940 : Chronique privée, dédié « à ma fille France » (Stock, 1940);
Chronique privée de l'an 40, dédié à Maurice Delamain (id.);
1941 : Voir la Figure - Réflexions sur ce temps, dédié « à mon ami André Thérive (...) souvenirs de l'année 1941 à Paris » (Grasset, 1941);