BARBUSSE, HENRI (18 5) , French man of letters, was born in Paris, May 17, 1874. Educated at the College Rollin, he became a journalist. In 1910 he was editing the periodical .le Sais Tout, but found time to write novels, of which Les Sup pliants (1903) and, in particular, L'En f er (1908), an intense tragedy tinged with melodrama, won considerable success. He is known chiefly for a brutal piece of realism, Le Feu (1916 ), which won the Prix Goncourt in 1917 and remains one of the most unforgettable pictures of modern war. Later he became a correspondent of the socialist journal L'Humanite and devoted his time to preaching against war. Among his other works are Clarte (1919) ; La lueur dans l'Abime (1920) ; and Quelques coins du coeur (i 9 2 I) ; Mani f este aux intellectuels (19 2 7) .