GIDE, ANDRE (1869- ), French novelist and essayist, was born in Paris on Nov. 21, 1869, and educated at the Ecole Alsacienne and the Lycee Henri IV. He made his debut in litera ture with a half-psychological, half-lyrical confession, les Cahiers d' Andre Walter (1891) . This was followed by the ironical Le Voyage d'Urien (1893), Paludes (1895) depicting the mediocrity of man's life, and by Les Nourritures Terrestres (1897) a work in which his anti-intellectualism is carried to the extreme of advo cating a pure voluptuousness for the enrichment of life. In 1902 Gide published his first novel, l'Immoraliste, a masterpiece, fol lowing the purest classical tradition with clear-cut psychological design and sureness of touch. La Porte etroite (1909, Eng. trs. 1924), Isabella (1911), La Symphonie Pastorale (1919), are com paratively short analytical novels, distinguished by the same merits. In the Caves du Vatican (1914) he attempts less success fully the fantastic and humorous novel. This "sotie" is interest ing as illustrating the idea of the acte gratuit, that is, void of all ethical or social finality. Among Gide's more recent works are Les Faux Monnayeurs (1925), an unequal work, encumbered with detail, but of acute analysis; and Si le Grain ne Meurt (1924), an autobiographical account in which sincerity sometimes gives way to cynicism. Gide is also the author of several critical essays and translations.
See the bibliography of his works compiled by R. Simonson (Paris 1924), and S. Braak: A. Gide et l'Ame moderne (1923).