Henry Bidou (28 June 1873 – 14 February 1943) was a French writer, literary critic and war correspondent.
Born in Givet, Bidou studied at the Saint-Joseph de Reims [fr] jesuit college.
[1] He had an eclectic professional career in a wide variety of professions: geographer, historian, journalist, lecturer, literary critic, musicographer, painter and poet.
He took advantage of his missions abroad to satisfy his passion for travel, facilitated by his mastery of several foreign languages.
[1] An amateur painter, Bidou worked with Edmond Aman-Jean, Raphaël Collin and Jacques-Émile Blanche and exhibited at the Élysée gallery.
[2] Bidou made numerous trips to Russia as part of the writing of his theses on Siberia, then around the world for his other activities.
[1] As a journalist or for his leisure time, he travelled through Poland, Uruguay, Japan, Cambodia, Indochina, the Rhineland, Italy, where he met Benito Mussolini, as well as Scandinavia and the Poles.
[1] He drew several stories from his travels, such as Le Nid de cygnes after discovering the Nordic countries.
[2] He gave distinguished lectures throughout the world on various subjects: Alexandre Dumas for example, often at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.