Massis, Henri (1886-1970). Never a major writer, Massis was nevertheless central to right-wing French politics and literature in his period. His early tracts (co-authored under the pseudonym ‘Agathon’), L'Esprit de la nouvelle Sorbonne (1911) and Les Jeunes Gens d'aujourd'hui (1913), were influential expressions of the new Right. A supporter of Action Française, he became editor in 1920 of La Revue universelle, pursuing both political and literary disputes with great vigour. Vicious and often personalized, his polemics were nevertheless highly effective. He served under Vichy, and after the war continued to support right-wing causes, from Salazar's Portugal to French Algeria.
[Richard Griffiths]
