Capitaine Conan

Roger Vercel (born Roger Cretin) was a French novelist and literature professor born in 1894 in Le Mans, France. His studies were interrupted by World War I service as a stretcher-bearer and officer, experiences that inspired early works like Captain Conan, which won the prestigious Prix Goncourt in 1934. Fascinated by the sea despite rarely visiting it, most of his novels feature maritime settings, including Remorques and Au Large de l'Eden (Prix Femina, 1932); he earned a doctorate in letters in 1927 and taught in Dinan until his death in 1957.