Maurice Druon

Maurice Druon (2003)

Maurice Druon de Reyniac (born April 23, 1918 in Paris , † April 14, 2009 there ) was a French writer , dramaturge and politician . He wrote mostly historical novels . Above all, he was famous for having co-composed the Chant de Partisans .

Life

Druon was born in 1918 as the son of the sociétaires of the Comédie-Française Lazare Kessel (1899-1920), who came from a Russian-Jewish family . He is a nephew of the writer Joseph Kessel . His father committed suicide in 1920 before paternity was recognized. At the age of 7, Maurice was adopted by his stepfather, the notary René Druon. He started writing for newspapers and magazines at the age of 18 and published his first play at the age of 21. In 1948 he received the Prix ​​Goncourt for his novel “The Big Families” .

From 1973 to 1974 he was French Minister for Culture , from 1978 to 1981 a member of the French National Assembly ( RPR ) and from 1979 to 1980 a member of the European Parliament . He was a member and permanent secretary of the Académie française , held numerous honorary positions and received many prestigious awards. In France he was best known for his struggle for the purity of the French language.

Maurice Druon died a few days before the age of 91 in his Paris domicile.

honors and awards

• 1966: Member of the Académie Française ( secretaire perpétuel from 1985 to 1999)
• 1999: Grand Officer of the Star of Romania
• 2001: Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
• Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
• Médaille de la France libre
• Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• Grand Officer of the Order of Merit Pro Merito Melitensi of the Order of Malta
• Honorary Doctorates from the University of Toronto , Boston University and the University of Tirana

Literary prizes

• 1948: Prix ​​Goncourt for Les Grandes Familles
• 1966: Literature Prize of the Prince Pierre de Monaco Foundation for his complete works
• 1998: Prix ​​Saint-Simon for Circonstances
• 2000: Prix ​​Agrippa d'Aubigné for Le Bon français

Selection of works

• 1946: La dernière brigade , German 1978
• 1948–1951: Les grandes Familles , three-part novel:
  • 1948: Part 1 - Les Grandes Familles , German The large families (1961)
  • 1950: Part 2 - La chute des corps , German Der Sturz der Leiber (1961)
  • 1951: Part 3 - Rendez-vous aux Enfers , German Rendezvous in Hell (1961)
• 1954: La Volupté d'être , German 1967, Roman
• 1956: L'hôtel de Mondez , German Das Haus de Mondez (1962) story
• 1955–1977: Les rois maudits , German Die Uneligen Könige , seven-part novel (the new German edition summarizes the seven parts in three volumes with the titles The Curse of the Flames , The Poison of the Crown , and Lily and Lion ):
  • 1955: Part 1 - Le Roi de fer , German The Curse from the Flames (1962)
  • 1955: Part 2 - La Reine étranglée , German The murder of the queen (1963)
  • 1956: Part 3 - Les Poisons de la Couronne , German The poison of the crown , formerly in rororo (1963): The fate of the weak
  • 1957: Part 4 - La Loi des mâles , German old rororo edition: The power of the law (1964)
  • 1959: Part 5 - La Louve de France , German The she-wolf of France , 1960
  • 1960: Part 6 - Le Lis et le Lion , German lily and lion , formerly contained in: The she-wolf of France , 1960
  • 1977: Part 7 - Quand un roi perd la France German A king loses his country

• 1957: Tistou les pouces verts , German Tistou with the green thumb (1972), youth novel
• 1958: Alexandre le Grand , German Alexander - Conqueror of the world , novel
• 1962: Des seigneurs de la plaine à l'hôtel de Mondez , German Das Haus de Mondez , short stories
• 1967: Le bonheur des uns , short stories
• 1967: Les mémoires de Zeus , German 1969 The Memoirs of Mr. Zeus, Roman
• 1968: L'Avenir en désarroi , essay

• The Contessa

Language puristic writings

• 1994: Lettre aux Français sur leur langue et leur âme , Paris
• 1999: Le bon français , Monaco
• 1999: Discours sur l'état de la langue. Séance publique annuelle [...] December 2, 1999 , Paris (academy speech)
• 2003: Le Franc-parler 2002–2003 , Monaco

literature

• Klaus D. Drissen: Literature and Politics. Gaullism in the work of Maurice Druon. 387 pages. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main, Bern, New York, Paris 1992 (Diss. Uni Wuppertal 1991, Europäische Hochschulschriften, Series XIII: French Language and Literature, Vol. 171), ISBN 3-631-44717-5

Film adaptations (selection)

Literary template

• 1958: The big families ( Les grandes familles )
• 1975: Nina
• 1989: Selected circles ( Les grandes familles )

script

• 1959: A gentleman without change ( Le Baron de l'Ecluse )

Web links

Commons : Maurice Druon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Maurice Druon  - Quotes

• Literature by and about Maurice Druon in the catalog of the German National Library
• Maurice Druon in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Short biography and list of works of the Académie française (French)
• Entry on Maurice Druon in the database of Members of the European Parliament

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le Monde from April 14, 2009 online
2. ↑ FRANCE: Mal le, mal la . In: Der Spiegel . No. 10 , 1998 ( online - Mar. 2, 1998 ).
3. ↑ What remained of old France. In: FAZ.net . April 15, 2009, accessed October 13, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Address by Pierre Messmer on the occasion of the presentation of the insignia of the Legion of Honor to Maurice Druon, on March 1, 2001 ( Memento of the original of February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in www.academie-francaise.fr 
5. ↑ Drissen: Literature and Politics ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.