Frères ennemis. Gillet et Grente en compagnie (1933-1951)

Abstract

Both candidates for the Académie française, Father Gillet, Master General of the Dominicans (1929-1951), and Monseigneur Grente, Bishop of Le Mans (1918-1959), harboured a deep-seated rivalry. This rivalry came to the fore in 1936, when they were elected to chair 32 to succeed Pierre de Nolhac. Mgr Grente's success deserves to be explained in the light of Fr. Gillet's defeat. How did the Master General of the Dominicans, who was at the height of his career in October 1936 when he received Mussolini at the inauguration of the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome, come to lose the academic election a fortnight later? The answer can be found in the strategies put in place by his opponents, which reveal a whole literary, worldly and ecclesiastical context. Through the careers of these two characters, it is a game of relationships and reputations that is worth examining. Behind Grente and Gillet there are networks at work. Diocesan bishop versus Master General of the Dominican Order, French province versus Roman centrality - it's a whole chessboard that can be discovered and a tactical clash over an academic position in Paris. A diary, a visitors' book, a photographic album and correspondence are the unpublished sources for this study.

Keywords

• Académie française
• Dominican order
• episcopate
• diary
• literary circles
• 20th century