[GANDHI MAHATMA]: (1869-1948) ROLLAND ROMAIN (1866-1944) On Gandhi - ´ that extraordinary man.......this new Christ´

[GANDHI MAHATMA]: (1869-1948) ROLLAND ROMAIN (1866-1944) On Gandhi - ´ that extraordinary man.......this new Christ´

[GANDHI MAHATMA]: (1869-1948) Indian political and spiritual leader during the Indian independence movement. ROLLAND ROMAIN (1866-1944) French dramatist & novelist, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1915, and an admirer of both Mahatma Gandhi and fellow Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. A good A.L.S., Romain Rolland, three pages, 8vo, n.p. (Villeneuve, Vaud, Switzerland), 30th January 1924, to Professor Luigi Chazai, in French. Rolland thanks his correspondent for having sent him some lovely flowers and continues to apologise for not having replied about an article in Libera Stampa, explaining ´Ou je ne l’ai pas reçu, ou il s’est perdu dans l’amas de papiers que je reçois. Je suis parti, fin juillet, pour Salzburg, où j’ai passé quelques semaines ; et quand je suis revenu, j’ai été incapable de débrouiller le chaos d’imprimés et d’écritures qui couvraient ma table´ (Translation: ´Either I didn't receive it, or it got lost in the pile of papers I receive. At the end of July I left for Salzburg, where I spent a few weeks, and when I came back I was unable to sort out the chaos of printed matter and writing that covered my table´), further apologising for not having been as cordial as he should have been on Chazai´s last visit, and declaring ´J’ai livré bien des luttes, dans ma vie. La plus constante a été contre la maladie. Heureusement, elle n’a jamais réussi à entraver le travail de mon esprit. Mais elle a toujours été l’hôtesse assise à ma table et couchée dans mon lit´ (Translation: ´I have fought many battles in my life. The most constant has been against illness. Fortunately, it has never managed to hinder the work of my mind. But it has always been the hostess sitting at my table and lying in my bed´). Rolland also states that he is sending Chazai ´mon plus récent livre sur Mahatma Gandhi, cet homme extraordinaire qui soulève la nouvelle Asie, – ce nouveau Christ. Cet ouvrage pourra vous servir pour les conférences, que je vous remercie de me consacrer. – Il fait rapidement son chemin dans le monde. Il est déjà traduit dans l’Inde, en plusieurs langues indigènes ; et Gorki l’a fait traduire en russe´ (Translation: ´my latest book on Mahatma Gandhi, that extraordinary man who is raising up the new Asia, - this new Christ. This book will be useful to you for the conferences, which I thank you for devoting to me. -It is rapidly making its way around the world. It has already been translated into Indian and several indigenous languages, and Gorki has had it translated into Russian´). Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Rolland and signed (´Romain Rolland´) by him in the return address to the verso. A letter of fine content relating to Mahatma Gandhi. VG

Rolland´s biography of Gandhi, still relevant today, was published in 1924 and contributed to the Indian leader´s reputation. The two men would meet some years later, in 1931.