France: Andre Malraux (1901-1976), French novelist, art theorist and Minister for Cultural Affairs, 1974

Roger Pic, 1974 André Malraux DSO (3 November 1901-23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist and Minister for Cultural Affairs. Malraux's novel La Condition Humaine (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Goncourt. He was appointed by President Charles de Gaulle as Minister of Information (1945-1946) and subsequently as France's first Minister of Cultural Affairs during de Gaulle's presidency (1959-1969). In 1923 Malraux undertook a small expedition into unexplored areas of the Cambodian jungle in search of lost Khmer temples, hoping to recover items that might be sold to art museums. On his return, he was arrested by French colonial authorities for removing a bas-relief from Banteay Srei. Malraux, who believed he had acted within the law as it then stood, contested the charges but was unsuccessful. Malraux's experiences in Indochina led him to become highly critical of the French colonial authorities there. In 1925, with Paul Monin, a progressive lawyer, he helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded a newspaper L'Indochine. On his return to France, Malraux published The Temptation of the West (1926). This was followed by The Royal Way (1930) which reflected some of his Cambodian experiences. In 1933 Malraux published Man's Fate (La Condition Humaine), a novel about the 1927 failed Communist rebellion in Shanghai. The work was awarded the 1933 Prix Goncourt.