Paul Valéry

French writer who, as a philosopher, critic and poet, spent over four years on one 500-line poem, "The Young Fate," 1917. Valery, a perfectionist, considered poetry the finest of creative achievements. Before his success as a writer, he was going to law school until a visit to Paris, in 1892, caused him to become influenced by the poets and intelligentsia of the city.

Valery worked as a civil servant in the French War Office 1897-1900, than as private secretary to the director of Havas News Agency, 1900-1922. He was elected to the French Academy in 1925, President of the Committee for Intellectual Cooperation of League of Nations, 1936, and professor of poetry at College de France in 1937.

He was married in 1900 to Jeanne Gobillard.

Valery died on 20 July 1945, Paris, France