Journalist, great reporter turned writer, essayist, then novelist bestselling author, Maurice Denuzière died in Dijon on November 2 at the age of ninety-nine, appointed to World his widow, Jacqueline Vals-Denuzière.
Born in Saint-Étienne on 29 August 1926, Maurice Denuzière studied journalism. From 1951 columnist to French Nightwhich was then directed by Pierre Lazareff, a decade later he became a senior reporter at World.
Over sixteen years, he carried out many major investigations – mainly on pollution, the trade in works of art, opera in the world, the crossing of the United States from East to West, hydrotherapy – before publishing, with complete freedom, a weekly column, “Wink”, where his humor, his gentle and scathing view of society, his more or less bizarre innovations, impose his tone and spirit.
Although he wrote several novels in 1959, while compiling his chronicles and publishing several essays, when he began a long novelistic cycle he chose to abandon journalism.
Three sagas and a gift
The gamble paid off from the moment it was published Louisiana (JCLattès, 1977), success is there. This first work resulted in a great story, which would have five other parts until 1987.
Although he has been involved in the field of short stories and children’s literature (Watch out for StéphanieHachette Jeunesse, 1982, in which he paid tribute to his hometown as well as his love of football), Maurice Denuzière returned to the scale of his first success with two other stories, Helvetia (Fayard, 4 vols., 1992-98) ago Bahamas (Fayard, 3 volumes 2003-07).
So many new cycles are internationally successful. Crowned with numerous literary prizes (Claude-Farrère, Alexandre–Dumas, Maisons de la presse, Rayonnement français), he is considered one of the masters of the historical novel.
In 2005, he looked back on his personal memories and prose, four months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Find the article here:
