Chartier, émile Auguste

Related Category: French Literature: Biographies

(āmēl ōgüst´ shärtyā´), 1868–1951, French essayist and philosopher who wrote under the pseudonym Alain. He is best known for thousands of aphoristic essays, called propos, which he contributed to his own weekly Libres Propos and other journals. These essays cover a variety of literary and political topics, many of them expressing Chartier's commitment to pacifism and distrust of official power. His many other works include Système des beaux arts (1920) and Histoire de mes pensées (1936).

See Alain on Happiness (1973).