From the 1930s onwards, Ramuz occupied a leading position in francophone literature, and his recognition was at its greatest in French-speaking Switzerland. His career there followed a curve of increasing institutionalization, then officialization: on the eve of his death in 1947, his consecration had reached the spheres of political officialdom.
More generally, at the end of his life Ramuz’s presence in society was immense. His work was talked about in schools, and the mainstream press reported his literary consecration. Significant events in his biography, such as important birthdays, a fractured humerus and other health problems, were pointed out. His person, and especially his face, whose distinctive features were easy to capture, were the subject of numerous representations by painters, sculptors, photographers and caricaturists.
« The great misfortune, you see, for an author, is to be a public man; that he necessarily becomes one, as soon as he gets involved in ‘publishing.’ No matter how hard he tries to divide his person into two halves, one of which is the man, which he reserves for himself, and the other the author, which he abandons to the elements and events combined, the partition that he would like to be watertight is anything but. »
Second letter–Letter to Henry-Louis Mermod, 1929