Henri Troyat (born Lev Aslanovich Tarasov; – 2 March 2007) was a Russian-born French author, biographer, historian and novelist.

Early life

Lev Aslanovich Tarasov (russian: link=no, Лев Асланович Тарасов, ''Lev Aslanovich Tarasov'') was born in Moscow to parents of mixed heritage, including

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, German and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

. In his autobiography, he states that his surname is

(Torossian), while his maternal grandmother was German and his maternal grandfather was of mixed

and Armenian descent. His family fled Russia after the outbreak of the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

. After a long exodus taking them to the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

on to

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

and later by sea to

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

and then

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

, the family finally settled in Paris in 1920, where young Troyat was schooled and later earned a law degree. The stirring and tragic events of this flight across half of Europe are vividly recounted by Troyat in ''Tant que la terre durera''.

Career

Troyat received his first literary award, ''Le prix du roman populaire'', at the age of twenty-four, and by twenty-seven, he was awarded the

Prix Goncourt The Prix Goncourt (french: Le prix Goncourt, , ''The Goncourt Prize'') is a prize in French literature, given by the académie Goncourt to the author of "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year". The prize carries a symbolic reward o ...

. He published more than 100 books, novels and biographies, among them those of

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (; rus, links=no, Григорий Ефимович Распутин ; – ) was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Nicholas II, the last Emperor of Russia, thus ga ...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

and

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. Troyat's best-known work is ''La neige en deuil'', which was adapted as an English-language film in 1956 under the title ''

The Mountain The Mountain (french: La Montagne) was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. They were the most radical group and opposed the Girondins. Th ...

''. Troyat was elected as a member of the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

in 1959. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving member.

Personal life and death

Troyat's first marriage produced a son before ending in divorce. He later married a widow with a young daughter whom he raised as his own. He died on 4 March 2007 in Paris. Henri Troyat tombe

Bibliography

* 1935: ''Faux Jour'' (Plon) * 1935: ''Le Vivier'' (Plon) * 1936: ''Grandeur nature'' (Plon) * 1937: ''La Clef de voûte'' (Plon) * 1938: ''L’Araigne'' (Plon) * 1939: ''La Fosse commune'' (Plon) * 1940: ''Dostoïevski'' (Fayard) * 1941: ''Le Jugement de Dieu'' (Plon) * 1942: ''Le mort saisit le vif'' (Plon) * 1945: ''Du Philanthrope à la Rouquine'' (Flammarion) * 1945: ''Le Signe du taureau'' (Plon) * 1946: ''Les Ponts de Paris'' (Flammarion) * 1946: ''Pouchkine'' (Plon) * 1946: ''Les Vivants, pièce en trois actes'' (Bonne) * 1947: ''Tant que la terre durera, t. I'' (La Table ronde) * 1948: ''Le Sac et la Cendre, Tant que la terre durera, t. II'' (La Table ronde) * 1948: ''La Case de l’oncle Sam'' (La Table ronde) * 1949: ''Sébastien, pièce en trois actes'' (Opéra) * 1950: ''Étrangers sur la terre, Tant que la terre durera, t. III'' (La Table ronde) * 1951: ''La Tête sur les épaules'' (Plon) * 1952: ''La Neige en deuil'' (Flammarion) * 1952: ''L’Étrange Destin de Lermontov'' (Plon) * 1953: ''Les Semailles et les Moissons, t. I'' (Plon) * 1955: ''De Gratte-ciel en cocotier'' (Plon) * 1955: ''Amélie, Les Semailles et les Moissons, t. II'' (Plon) * 1956: ''La Maison des bêtes heureuses'' (Bias) * 1956: ''Sainte Russie, souvenirs et réflexions suivi de l’Assassinat d’Alexandre II'' (Grasset) * 1956: ''La Grive, Les Semailles et les Moissons, t. III'' (Plon) * 1957: ''Tendre et violente Elisabeth, Les Semailles et les Moissons, t. IV'' (Plon) * 1958: ''La Rencontre, Les Semailles et les Moissons, t. V'' (Plon) * 1958: ''Naissance d’une Dauphine'' (Gallimard) * 1959: ''La Vie quotidienne en Russie au temps du dernier tsar'' (Hachette) * 1959: ''La Lumière des justes. Tome I : Les Compagnons du Coquelicot.'' (Flammarion) * 1960: ''La Lumière des justes. Tome II : La Barynia.'' (Flammarion) * 1961: ''La Lumière des justes. Tome III : La Gloire des vaincus.'' (Flammarion) * 1962: ''La Lumière des justes. Tome IV : Les Dames de Sibérie.'' (Flammarion) * 1963: ''Une extrême amitié'' (La Table ronde) * 1963: ''La Lumière des justes. Tome V : Sophie ou la Fin des combats.'' (Flammarion) * 1964: ''Le Geste d’Ève'' (Flammarion) * 1965: ''Les Eygletière, t. I'' (Flammarion) * 1965: ''Tolstoï'' (Fayard) * 1966: ''La Faim des lionceaux, Les Eygletière, t. II'' (Flammarion) * 1967: ''La Malandre, Les Eygletière, t. III'' (Flammarion) * 1968: ''Les Héritiers de l’avenir. Tome I : Le Cahier.'' (Flammarion) * 1969: ''Les Héritiers de l’avenir. Tome II : Cent un coups de canon.'' (Flammarion) * 1970: ''Les Héritiers de l’avenir. Tome III : L’Éléphant blanc.'' (Flammarion) * 1971: ''Gogol'' (Flammarion) * 1972: ''La Pierre, la Feuille et les Ciseaux'' (Flammarion) * 1973: ''Anne Prédaille'' (Flammarion) * 1974: ''Le Moscovite, t. I'' (Flammarion) * 1974: ''Les Désordres secrets, Le Moscovite, t. II'' (Flammarion) * 1975: ''Les Feux du matin, Le Moscovite, t. III'' (Flammarion) * 1976: ''Un si long chemin'' (Stock) * 1976: ''Le Front dans les nuages'' (Flammarion) * 1976: ''Grimbosq'' (Flammarion) * 1977: ''Catherine la Grande'' (Flammarion) * 1978: ''Le Prisonnier n° I'' (Flammarion) * 1979: ''Pierre le Grand'' (Flammarion) * 1980: ''Viou'' (Flammarion) * 1981: ''Alexandre I er'' (Flammarion) * 1982: ''Le Pain de l’étranger'' (Flammarion) * 1982: ''Ivan le Terrible'' (Flammarion) * 1983: ''La Dérision'' (Flammarion) * 1984: ''Tchekhov'' (Flammarion) * 1984: ''Marie Karpovna'' (Flammarion) * 1985: ''Tourgueniev'' (Flammarion) * 1985: ''Le Bruit solitaire du cœur'' (Flammarion) * 1986: ''À demain, Sylvie'' (Flammarion) * 1986: ''Gorki'' (Flammarion) * 1987: ''Le Troisième Bonheur'' (Flammarion) * 1988: ''Toute ma vie sera mensonge'' (Flammarion) * 1988: ''Flaubert'' (Flammarion) * 1989: ''Maupassant'' (Flammarion) * 1989: ''La Gouvernante française'' (Flammarion) * 1990: ''La Femme de David'' (Flammarion) * 1990: ''Alexandre II, le tsar libérateur'' (Flammarion) * 1991: ''Aliocha'' (Flammarion) * 1991: ''Nicolas II, le dernier tsar'' (Flammarion) * 1992: ''Youri'' (Flammarion) * 1992: ''Zola'' (Flammarion) * 1993: ''Verlaine'' (Flammarion) * 1993: ''Le Chant des Insensés'' (Flammarion) * 1994: ''Baudelaire'' (Flammarion) * 1994: ''Le Marchand de masques'' (Flammarion) * 1995: ''Balzac'' (Flammarion) * 1995: ''Le Défi d’Olga'' (Flammarion) * 1996: ''Votre très humble et très obéissant serviteur'' (Flammarion) * 1996: ''Raspoutine'' (Flammarion) * 1997: ''L’Affaire Crémonnière'' (Flammarion) * 1997: ''Juliette Drouet'' (Flammarion) * 1998: ''Le Fils du satrape'' (Grasset) * 1998: ''Terribles tsarines'' (Grasset) * 1999: ''Les turbulences d’une grande famille'' (Grasset) * 1999: ''Namouna ou la chaleur animale'' (Grasset) * 2000: ''Nicolas Ier'' (Librairie académique Perrin) * 2000: ''La Ballerine de Saint-Pétersbourg'' (Plon) * 2001: ''Marina Tsvetaena : L'éternelle insurgée'' (Grasset) * 2001: ''La Fille de l'écrivain'' (Grasset) * 2002: ''L'Étage des bouffons'' (Grasset) * 2004: ''La Fiancée de l'ogre'' (Grasset) * 2004: ''Alexandre III'' (Grasset) * 2004: ''La Baronne et le musicien'' (Grasset) * 2005: ''Alexandre Dumas. Le cinquième mousquetaire'' (Grasset) * 2006: ''La Traque'' (Grasset) * 2006: ''Pasternak'' (Grasset) * 2008: ''Boris Godunov'' (Flammarion) * 2009: ''Le Pas du juge'' (Bernard de Fallois) * 2009: ''La folie des anges'' (Bernard de Fallois) * 2010: "Trois mères, trois fils" (Bernard de Fallois)

References

External links

L'Académie française

official site

BBC "Eminent French writer Troyat dies" 5 March 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Troyat, Henri 1911 births 2007 deaths Writers from Paris 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists Members of the Académie Française Prix Goncourt winners White Russian emigrants to France French people of Armenian descent French people of Russian descent Russian people of Armenian descent Ethnic Armenian historians Grand Croix of the Légion d'honneur Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery Lycée Pasteur (Neuilly-sur-Seine) alumni French male novelists 20th-century French male writers 21st-century French male writers French male non-fiction writers