The Red Egg: The descent into madness of a man believing he will become ruler of Russia

He studied at the Collège Stanislas, a private Catholic school, and after graduating joined his father in the bookstore, which specialised in works on the French Revolution. Several years later he secured a position as cataloguer at Bacheline-Deflorenne and at Lemerre before being appointed librarian for the French Senate in 1876.

His literary career had begun as a journalist and as a poet before publishing his novel ‘Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard’ in 1881. Praised for its elegant prose, it won him a prestigious prize from the Académie Française, which later elected him to its storied ranks.

His works were profound and thoughtful and often couched in surreal and outlandish expressions; whether penguins baptized by a near-blind Abbott transformed themselves into humans or of a guardian angel who becomes an atheist, his stories turned established thought into startling literature.

His short stories run in the same vein. The premise may seem plausible but his distinctive style turns them into an individual viewpoint which invokes both discussion and admiration.

In his private life his relationships with women were often turbulent. A Socialist, he was a fervent supporter of the Russian Revolution and the early years of the French Communist party.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 but the following year his entire canon of works was placed on the prohibited list of the Catholic Church, which he thought of as a credit to his name.

Anatole France died on the 12th October 1924 in Tours. He was 80.