Henri Daniel-Rops (1901-1965)

Today marks the death of the French Catholic author and historian Henri Daniel-Rops. Daniel- Rops adopted his pseudonym from the name of a character in one of his early short stories, and he used it on all of his books. He taught history in Lyces at Chambéry, 1923-28, at Amiens, 1928-30, and at Neuilly sur Seine, 1930-44, when he resigned to become a publisher’s literary adviser, and to write. He was editor-in-chief of the publishing firm of Fayard in Paris. He married Madeleine Bouvier in 1924; they had an adopted son, Francis. Daniel-Rops won the Grand Prix de la Literature of the French Academy in 1946, was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French Government in 1948, was elected to the French Academy. Daniel-Rops was undoubtedly the most widely read writer in France by post-war Catholics. For more on Daniel-Ropes click here.