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Marcel Proust Biography
**A trip down memory lane with a touch of extravagance**
Imagine a young Parisian from the beginning of the 20th century, with thick brown hair and melancholic look. Drink tea served in a fine porcelain cup with muffins. He dresses with an impeccable, almost dandyish elegance, and his mind exudes exquisite sensitivity. That was **Marcel Proust**, a French writer who gave us one of the masterpieces of universal literature: **In Search of Lost Time**.
**A child prodigy with fragile health**
Born in Auteuil, France, in 1871, Proust was a child prodigy. At the age of 11 he had already devoured Dante's "Divine Comedy" and mastered the piano. However, his health was delicate, marked by asthma and constant allergies. His father was a doctor and researched the disease cholera, to which he left several scientific contributions. His mother was an emigrant from Saint Petersburg, a French colony that had then ceased to be Prussia. He had an older brother with whom he always posed in front of the cameras for photographs that are still preserved to this day.
**A refuge in reading and writing**
Illnesses confined him to long periods of rest, which he took advantage of to immerse himself in a world of books. Balzac, Flaubert and Ruskin became his literary guides, fueling his passion for writing. At the age of 20, he published his first book, "The Pleasures and the Days," a collection of essays that revealed his sharp wit and poetic sensitivity.
**The flower of dandyism**
Jean Santeuil eBook Version
Proust was not only a talented writer, but also an icon of Parisian dandyism. He frequented the most exclusive salons, where he shone for his wit, his impeccable clothing and his air of mystery.
His social life was as intense as his inner life, full of eccentric characters and passionate relationships. He was attracted to libertine people and always observed their sometimes sexualist behavior and surrounded by doubts. In 1985 he wrote the sketch that would define his work, the novel “Jean Santeuil”, which narrates the life of a young Parisian who falls in love with a woman who avoids him until the end when he discovers that she is really cheating on him with another lady, this book that remained unpublished until after his death.
**In search of lost time: an introspective journey**
In 1913, at age 42, Proust began writing what would become his magnum opus: **In Search of Lost Time**. This monumental novel, composed of seven volumes, is a profound exploration of memory, time, love and decay.
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