BERTRAND, LOUIS. — Writer, b. at Spincourt on 20 March 1866, d. at Antibes on 6 December 1941; returned to religious practice in 1906 during a journey in the Orient.
He wrote many novels of unquestionable literary value, rising from overly crude adventures to the treatment of the higher problems of the spirit and of Christianity. Among these are: Mademoiselle de Jessincourt (Paris 1911), a novel of joyous and stern self-denial; Sanguis Martyrum (ibid. 1918), on the Christian communities of Africa at the time of St Cyprian. To hagiography he contributed two important works: S. Augustin (ibid. 1913), which captures the entire wondrous personality of the Saint and from which there followed: Autour de st Augustin (ibid. 1913) and Les plus belles pages de st Augustin (ibid. 1916), and Ste Thérèse (ibid. 1927). To historiography he offered Flaubert à Paris, ou le mort vivant (ibid. 1921), Louis XIV (ibid. 1924), and Philippe II à l'Escurial (ibid. 1929).