Intellectual Curiosities and Provocations

June 2001

Marcel Proust

Marcel Proust was born on July 10th, 1871 in Auteuil, France, a suburb of Paris. His father, a doctor well known for his work in epidermiology, was married to a stockbroker's daughter of Jewish descent. Marcel was sick from the time he was born, and from the age of nine began suffering from severe asthma, which harmed his chances for a conventional professional career.