His father was a tax collector in Bazas, Gironde where Anatole - a name he disliked from an early age - was born in 1876.
A nurse mishap resulted in an accident where the child Anatole lost the proper use of his leg and he remained crippled for the rest of his life.
He never married but had several relationships.
A brilliant mind, he studied in Agen before attending the Collège Stanislas, a famous Roman Catholic school in Paris, where he became friend with writer to be Henry de Jouvenel and Roman Catholic activist Marc Sangnier.