Proust, Marcel

French author, born in the village of Auteuil. His father was a prominent physician who had worked himself up and strengthened his social position through marriage. In connection with the birth of their youngest son Robert in 1873, the family moved to Paris. The boys grew up in a cultivated home characterized by middle class regularity and seasonal rituals. One of these was the summer vacations in the small town of Illiers near Chartres, which Proust would immortalize as Combray. As a nine year old, Marcel Proust had his first attack of asthma, a sickness that would follow him through life.