Michel Mohrt


Michel Mohrt was an editor, essayist, novelist and historian of French literature.
Mohrt was born in Morlaix, Finistère. He was elected to the Académie française on 18 April 1985. Mohrt died at the age of 97 on 17 August 2011.

Biography

Mohrt entered the literary world at the age of 14, creating woodcuts for a book by the renowned French writer Jakez Breton-Riou. He studied law and literature at the University of Rennes. After obtaining a degree in law he applied at the barreau de Morlaix in 1937. He was a strong supporter of the "Action Française".
He fought with distinction during the 1940 Alpine Line campaign against the Italians, most notably in the Vésubie. During this campaign he fought alongside the famous Jean Bassompierre, who, after the campaign against the Italians, enlisted in the Wehrmacht to fight Bolshevism. Michel Mohrt gave him recognition in his work Tombeau de La Rouërie.
He was a long-time editor at Éditions Gallimard, where he was a specialist in North American literature. In 1962 he received the Grand Prize in the category of novels from the Académie française for his novel Sea Prison and was elected to the Académie on 18 April 1985.