Marcel Proust

MARCEL PROUST was born in Auteuil in 1871. As a young man he became an eminent society figure, frequenting Paris's most exclusive salons. Following the death of his mother, Proust's already poor health began to deteriorate further, and he increasingly withdrew from society. He started writing In Search of Lost Time in 1908 and worked on its seven volumes until his death in 1922, spending most of the final three years of his life confined to a cork-lined bedroom.