Maurois, André

WRITER, BIOGRAPHER (FRANCE)
BORN 26 Jul 1885, Elbeuf, Seine-Maritime - DIED 9 Oct 1967, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine
BIRTH NAME Herzog, Émile Salomon Wilhelm
GRAVE LOCATION Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine: Cimetière Ancien, 3 Rue Victor Noir (division 03)

André Maurois was born as Émile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog into a rich family of textile merchants. He was educated in Rouen and influenced by the philosopher Alain (Émile-Auguste Chartier).

During the First World War he served in the French army as well as in the British Army. His first novel "Les silences du colonel Bramble" (1918) was an instant success in France as well as in England.

Many of his books were translated in English and he wrote biographies about British persons like Byron (1930), Shelley (1923) and Disraeli (1928). He also wrote about George Sand (1952), Victor Hugo (1954) and Marcel Proust (1949). In 1938 he was elected into the Académie Française.

At the start of World War II he became a French Official Observer in England and in 1940 he was sent on a mission by the French Govermant that was cut short by the French capitulation. During the war he served in the Free French Forces before he went into Exile in the USA. After his return to France he discovered that the Gestapo had stolen his library after they didn't find him. In 1947 he officially changed his name to André-Maurois.

Family
• Wife: Caillavet, Simone de (1926-1967, Saint-Médard-d'Excideuil, Dordogne)

Related persons
• wrote about Byron, George Noel Gordon
• wrote about Proust, Marcel
• wrote about Shelley, Percy Bysshe

Images

The grave of André Maurois at Neuilly Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (27 Aug 2001)

 

Sources
Winkler Prins Encyclopedie (Editie 1992)
André Maurois - Wikipedia


Mavrocordato, Alexander

Published: 26 Apr 2009
Last update: 24 Feb 2023