BAUMANN, EMILE. - French writer, b. in Lyons on 24 Sept. 1868, d. in 1941. Thinker and philosopher, he published notable mystical essays (Trois villes saintes, 1912; L’anneau d’or des grands mystiques, 1924; Saint Paul, 1925); aesthetician of music, he wrote Les grandes formes de la musique (1905), but worked above all in the field of the novel. A disciple of Bourget, he is not opposed to naturalism, which he nevertheless reproaches for failing to reach the spirit of things; as a bold novelist he depicts passion in bold tones, probes human depths and would make all its bitterness felt: his realism springs from spiritual concern.
In his novels (La fosse aux lions, 1911; Le fer sur l’Enclume, 1920; Baptême de Pauline Ardel, 1914; Job le prédestiné, 1923, etc.), strongly tinged with pessimism, he directs the spirit toward that supernatural by which nature, in his eyes, is pervaded: above all in L’Immobile (1908) he extols the presence of Christ in man and in the world. Stern, sincere but harsh, in more recent novels (Mon frère le Dominicain, 1927; Les Chartreux, 1928, etc.) he has struck a note of greater calm and sweetness. His style is often confused, inappropriate, hard and rough, lacking in harmony, yet capable of stirring the reader.