Romain Rolland

Born in Clamecy, Nievre (France) on January 29, 1866 Romain Rolland was a French mystic, art historian, novelist, and dramatist. Rolland received the Noel Prize for literature in 1915 for his idealism plus the sympathy and love of truth in different situations of life.
Rolland's first book was published in 1902 and his love of the "people" theatre influenced him to write plays that contributed towards the democratization of the theatre. Rolland was a humanist and studied the works of Rabindranath Tagore and Mohandas Gandhi. His works were influenced by the Vedanta philosophy of India. Rolland prided himself on being a pacifist. He moved to Switzerland, protested against World I in his writings Au-dessus de la Melee and Above the Battle (Chicago in 1916). He wrote a book on Gandhi praising the Indian nonviolent leader. 1928 Rolland and natural living alchemist Edmund Bordeaux Szekely created the International Biogenic Society to endorse their ideas on the combination of the mind, spirit and body.
In 1935 Rolland traveled to Moscow to meet Joseph Stalin. Rolland felt that Stalin was the greatest man of his time, if a little violent. Rolland retuned to France in 1937 and went into hiding. Rolland completed his biography in 1940 and also wrote a treatise on the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. In 1944 he wrote Peguy which examined religion and socialism via his memories.
Rolland's advocacy was for a theater that was open to the masses. His essay The People' Theater attempted to use his theory with the performances of Danton and the Fourteenth of July (1902). Rolland's play The Time Will Come (1903) explored imperialism and capitalism, the treatment of enemy civilians and concentrations camps. He attempted to provide realism in acting and d?cor.
In 1923 Rolland and Sigmund Freud began a friendship and correspondence that lasted until Freud's death in 1939. Rolland was a major influence on Freud's thinking and work. Rolland died December 30, 1944.