Jacques And Raïssa Maritain is the biography of French philosopher Jacques Maritain and his wife Raïssa and offers a fascinating story of perhaps the most influential French theologian of the twentieth century.
This award-winning book, written by Jean-Luc Barré at the request of the Maritain Archives in Kolbsheim, France, and published in France in 1995, was the first biography of noted French philosopher Jacques Maritain and his wife Raïssa. Drawing on the wealth of Maritain materials at the Kolbsheim archives, many of which are unpublished, Barré offers a clear and objective account of the remarkable lives and intellectual pursuits of the Maritains. Noted scholar and translator Bernard Doering has now made this essential work available for the first time in English.
“Much has been written on Maritain, perhaps the most influential French theologian of the twentieth century, but now we have a masterly biography that details what was so important for him, the inner life, the working of the soul. . . . this book is a magnificent achievement: would we had the same quality biographical work for de Lubac and von Balthasar.”
—Ecclesiastical History
“Barré’s narrative is so wonderfully stirring and multifaceted that it generates its own lacunae in the minds of readers. . . [who] owe Bernard Doering a deep debt of gratitude for a superb translation.”
—The Catholic Historical Review
Learn More:
- Winner of the French Academy Prize for Biography
- Winner of the Book Award from the Catholic Press Association
- Winner of the Outstanding University Press title for Public and Secondary School Libraries by the American Library Association
- Winner of the Grand Prize for Catholic Literature
Jean-Luc Barré, a journalist and historian, is the author of several books, including Le Seigneur-Chat: Philippe Berthelot, 1866–1934.
Bernard E. Doering (1924–2016) was professor emeritus of Romance languages and literatures at the University of Notre Dame.