Paul Valéry

Paul Valéry (1871-1945) was one of the most important French poets, essayists, and critics of the 20th century. An heir to Symbolism, he became a close friend of Stéphane Mallarmé and André Gide. A romantic disappointment led him to abandon poetry, sentimentalism, and literary formalism, dedicating himself instead to the study of mathematics, philosophy, language, and music. His essayistic writing is that of a skeptical yet generous man, attentive to the singular, the fragmentary, and the insignificant, interested in scientific discoveries and the political problems of his time.