Michel Tournier dies, aged 91
Author was celebrated during his lifetime as one of the greatest French writers of the late 20th Century
THE author Michel Tournier, described as one of France’s greatest 20th Century writers, has died aged 91.
He died in his sleep at his home in the village of Choisel, Yvelines, where he had lived for the past 50 years according to an announcement by his godson.
Tournier, who was born to a German family in Paris in 1924 and studied in Germany.
After twice failing the exams to enter the civil service in France, Tournier worked for a radio broadcaster before becoming a reader and translator of German for the publisher Plon.
He was 42 when his first novel Vendredi ou les Limbes du Pacifique (Friday, or, The Other Island) was published in 1967.
It retold the story of Robinson Crusoe and won the Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française that same year.
Four years later the author rewrote the book as a children’s novel under the title Vendredi ou la Vie sauvage.
In 1970 Tournier won the Prix Goncourt by unanimous decision (the only time this has occurred) for his book Le Roi des Aulnes, The Erl-King, about a man who recruited children to the Nazi party to save them.
The book was the basis of the 1996 film The Ogre.
His third novel, Les Météores told the story of twins and cemented his reputation as one of France’s best authors of the late 20th Century.
President Francois Hollande described Tournier as a "great writer" of "immense talent".
He was visited four times by President Mitterrand during his presidency and despite his love of quiet village life in Choisel, he still made noisy media appearances.
In 1989 he described abortionists as “the sons and grandsons of the monsters of Auschwitz” and said they should suffer the death penalty.
In 1996 he said that a new French law making it illegal to deny the Holocaust had transformed “an historic act into an article of faith” and made its denial into “blasphemy”.
He was a member of the jury for the Prix Goncourt from 1975 until 2009 when he resigned due to increasing tiredness.
Photo:wiki/Kyle_the_hacker
