Death of Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust died on 18 November 1922 in 16th arrondissement of Paris, aged 51. A French novelist, critic and essayist, Proust is the author of In Search of Lost Time, a monumental work in seven volumes, whose first part, Swann's Way, appeared in 1913. Drawing on memory, social life and the Parisian aristocracy and bourgeoisie, it explores how time and involuntary recollection shape identity, with the famous episode of the madeleine as its emblem. The second volume won the Prix Goncourt in 1919, and the last volumes were published after his death. Chronically ill with asthma, he spent his final years largely confined to his bedroom, writing at night. His novel is regarded as one of the greatest works of modern literature.

Open on the timeline