François-Olivier Rousseau (born 20 September 1947,

Boulogne-Billancourt Boulogne-Billancourt (; often colloquially called simply Boulogne, until 1924 Boulogne-sur-Seine, ) is a wealthy and prestigious Communes of France, commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris ...

) is a French journalist and writer.

Biography

A young literary critic at ''

Le Matin de Paris ''Le Matin de Paris'' (, ''The Morning of Paris'') was a French daily newspaper, founded on 1 March 1977 by Claude Perdriel, and disappearing in 1987 ("dépôt de bilan" on 6 May). Its foundation is the subject of the documentary ''Numéros zéro ...

'' at the end of the 1970s, he became a novelist, met with success immediately and collected several literary prizes. He then left Paris for the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

where he settled in the capital,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, a town of barely more than 20,000 inhabitants. He devotes himself only to the writing between two voyages. French detesting France, a specialist in the period from

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

to the First World War (which he considers to be "an accident that is incomprehensible to me, I try to understand what could have provoked this manifestation of the death instinct of the West and I like to dream what would have been this century without the war"), he particularly likes to depict with many details the lives of artists going through this era. The

Éditions du Seuil Éditions du Seuil (), also known as Le Seuil, is a French publishing house established in 1935 by Catholic intellectual Jean Plaquevent (1901–1965), and currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The ''seuil'' (th ...

published a

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book, or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent ...

of the film he co-wrote, ''

Children of the Century ''Children of the Century'' () is a 1999 French biographical drama film co-written and directed by Diane Kurys. It is based on the tumultuous love affair between two French literary icons of the 19th century, novelist George Sand (Juliette Binoche ...

'', devoted to the love affair between

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. Being more renowned than either Victor Hugo or Honoré de Balz ...

and

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

Bibliography

*1977: ''Le Regard du voyageur'',

Stock Stocks (also capital stock, or sometimes interchangeably, shares) consist of all the Share (finance), shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided. A single share of the stock means fractional ownership of the corporatio ...

*1981: ''L'Enfant d'Édouard'',

Mercure de France The () was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group. The gazette was publis ...

prix Médicis The Prix Médicis () is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by and .

1981 *1985: ''Sébastien Doré'', Mercure de France, prix Marcel Proust 1986
prix Bertrand de Jouvenel
of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

*1988:''La Gare de Wannsee'', Grasset,

Grand prix du roman de l'Académie française The is a French literary award, created in 1914, and given each year by the Académie Française. Along with the Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt ( , "The Goncourt Prize") is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the ...

1988) *1991: ''

Andrée Putman Andrée Putman (23 December 1925 – 19 January 2013) was a French interior and product designer. Life and work Childhood and youth (1925–1944) Andrée Christine Aynard was born into a wealthy family of bankers and notables from Lyon. H ...

'', Éditions du Regard *1991: ''Le Jour de l'éclipse'', Grasset *1995: ''L'Heure de gloire'', Grasset *1999: ''Les Enfants du siècle'', Le Seuil *2001: ''Le Passeur'', Stock *2003: ''Le Plaisir de la déception'', Stock *2003: ''Grand Hôtel du Pacifique'',

Éditions du Rocher The Éditions du Rocher is a publishing house based in Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the R ...

*2004: ''Princesse Marie'', Le Seuil *2006: ''Le Faux Pli'', Gallimard

Filmography

as screenwriter: * ''

'' by

Diane Kurys Diane Kurys (; born 3 December 1948) is a French director, producer, filmmaker and actress. Several of her films as director are semi-autobiographical. Personal life Kurys was born in Lyon, Rhône, France, the younger of two daughters. She is a ...

* '' Absolument fabuleux'' by Gabriel Aghion * '' Nuit noire 17 octobre 1961'' by * '' Nathalie...'' by

Anne Fontaine Anne Fontaine (born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc; 15 July 1959) is a Luxembourgish film director, screenwriter, and former actress. She lives and works in France. Life and career Born Anne-Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc in Luxembourg, sister of actor ...

* ''

The Princess of Montpensier ''The Princess of Montpensier'' () is a 2010 French period romance film directed by Bertrand Tavernier, inspired by a short story of the same name published anonymously by Madame de La Fayette in 1662. It stars Mélanie Thierry in the title ro ...

'' by

Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier (; 25 April 1941 – 25 March 2021) was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. Life and career Tavernier was born in Lyon, France, the son of Geneviève (née Dumond) and René Tavernier, a publicist and writer, ...

* ' by

Benoît Jacquot Benoît Jacquot (; born 5 February 1947) is a French film director and screenwriter who has had a varied career in European cinema. In July 2024, Jacquot was charged with rape, including of a minor, and was barred from directing and having cont ...

External links

François-Olivier Rousseau
on Babelio
François-Olivier Rousseau
on Allaty Éditions
François Olivier Rousseau: ''Le plaisir de la déception''
video on INA.fr (24 February 2003)
François-Olivier Rousseau
on the site of the Académie française * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousseau, Francois-Olivier 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French writers 21st-century French writers French screenwriters Prix Médicis winners 1947 births Writers from Boulogne-Billancourt Living people Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners