How did Marcel Proust’s mother’s background differ from his father’s?

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Portrait of French author Marcel Proust, seated with his hand resting thoughtfully against his chin, wearing a dark suit and looking directly at the camera. — Marcel Proust French author Marcel Proust wrote what is considered one of the supreme achievements of modern fiction, the seven-part autobiographical novel *À la recherche du temps perdu* (1913–27; *In Search of Lost Time*).

Marcel Proust’s parents came from distinct religious and social backgrounds. His father, Adrien Proust, was an eminent physician who came from a provincial French Catholic family. In contrast, his mother, Jeanne (Weil) Proust, was a woman from a wealthy Jewish family.1