Valéry becomes a full-time literary writer after Lebey's death
Poet involved
What happened
Édouard Lebey, Valéry's employer at the Havas agency, died in 1922, ending the long period in which Valéry had combined literary work with private employment. The change forced him to establish a more independent professional life as a writer. By this stage his renewed literary reputation was rapidly becoming substantial.
Literary impact
Lebey's death removed the financial structure that had supported Valéry's long intellectual retreat and helped consolidate his public vocation as a writer. From this point he increasingly occupied the position of a major French literary figure rather than an author working largely outside public literary life.
Source: Wikipedia
