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Maurice Zermatten (22 October 1910, in
Saint-Martin, Valais Saint-Martin is a municipality in the district of Hérens in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. History Saint-Martin is first mentioned in 1224 as ''Sanctum Martinum''. Geography Saint-Martin has an area, , of . Of this area, 33.0% is used ...
– 11 February 2001, in Sion) was a French-speaking Swiss writer. He was born in Saint-Martin, Valais, a small village situated in the Val d'Hérens, in the canton of
Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...
. He was first educated at the Ecole normale and then at the
University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (french: Université de Fribourg; german: Universität Freiburg) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius ...
. He published his first novel ''Le Coeur inutile'' in 1936 at the age of 26. He taught at the College of Sion where he stayed until retirement. In 1952 he became lecturer (French Literature) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich. Maurice Zermatten also performs a military career leading him to the rank of
colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
. He has dedicated himself to several literary genres like
novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
,
storytelling Storytelling is the social and cultural activity of sharing stories, sometimes with improvisation, theatrics or embellishment. Every culture has its own stories or narratives, which are shared as a means of entertainment, education, cultural pr ...
,
short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
, etc. Born novelist, Maurice Zermatten describes the novel as ''"a complete kind where the author creates characters, history and environment. It is a fiction that reflects reality as it draws its imagination in life."'' Maurice Zermatten is also Jean Zermatten's father.


Works

Maurice Zermatten has published about 120 books most of them are novels. He also wrote theater pieces, short stories. He dedicated works to writers:
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (24 September 1878 – 23 May 1947) was a French-speaking Swiss writer. Biography He was born in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud and was educated at the University of Lausanne. He taught briefly in nearby Aubonne, an ...
,
Léon Savary Léon Savary ( Fleurier, 1895 - Boudry, 1968) was a Swiss French-speaking writer and journalist from Payerne, Vaud. Biography Savary was the son of a German russified aristocratic mother from the Baltic region (Von Paucker) and a father who was ...
,
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recog ...
,
Gonzague de Reynold Gonzague de Reynold (15 June 1880 – 9 April 1970) was a Swiss writer, historian, and right-wing political activist. Over the course of his six-decade career, he wrote more than thirty books outlining his traditionalist Catholic and Swiss natio ...
and also to painters : Théodore Stravinski, Charles Menge, Georges Borgeaud, Paul Monnier and Ferdinand Dubuis.


Prizes and distinctions

Maurice Zermatten won several distinctions like: (1938 and 1956),
Grand prix catholique de littérature The grand prix catholique de littérature is a French literary prize awarded by the Association des écrivains catholiques de langue française (established in 1886). History Established in 1945 (prix du Renouveau français) under the impulse of ...
for all his work (1959), Gottfried Keller Prize (1959), (1960), He also became Officier de l’Ordre du mérite national français des arts et des lettres and Bourgeois d'honneur de la ville de Sion (1976) 1910 births 2001 deaths People from Hérens District Swiss writers in French University of Fribourg alumni People from Sion, Switzerland Academic staff of ETH Zurich {{Switzerland-writer-stub