Éric Deschodt (born 30 March 1937) is a French journalist, writer and translator. He wrote police novels under the pseudonym Bernard-Paul Lallier.

Biography

Éric Deschodt was Anne-Marie Deschodt's brother.« Anne-Marie du TEMPLE de ROUGEMONT : Décès »
carnet.midilibre.fr. After graduating from high school and a bachelor's degree in philosophy, he became a journalist for

Radio France Radio France () is the French national public radio broadcaster. Stations Radio France offers seven national networks: *France Inter — Radio France's "generalist media, generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed wi ...

, then worked in various fields: agricultural machinery salesman, painting representative, art publisher, fish farmer in

Camargue The Camargue (, also , , ; ) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the ''P ...

. He eventually returned to journalism and worked successively for several publications, including '' Jours de France'', '' Valeurs actuelles'' and ''

Le Figaro () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Pierre Beaumarchais, Beaumarchais (1732–1799): ''Le Barbier de Séville'', ''The Guilty Mother, La Mère coupable'', ...

''. Under the pseudonym Bernard-Paul Lallier, he published ''Le Saut de l'ange'' (1968), a detective novel that won that year's Prix du Quai des Orfèvres and was adapted under the eponymous title in cinema by

Yves Boisset Yves Félix Claude Boisset (14 March 1939 – 31 March 2025) was a French film director and screenwriter. Early life Boisset was born 14 March 1939, in Paris, France. He studied at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC). ...

in 1971. This novel was followed by the sequel ''L'Ange du paradis'', published in 1969. In 1977, Deschodt used the same pseudonym to write the thriller ''Terreur à Nantes''. Éric Deschodt published essays on French aviation and cigar making under his patronym, 10 or so novels, and biographies of

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

Octave Mirbeau Octave Henri Marie Mirbeau (; 16 February 1848 – 16 February 1917) was a French novelist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, journalist and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, whilst still app ...

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

Agrippa d'Aubigné Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné (, 8 February 155229 April 1630) was a French poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler. His Epic poetry, epic poem ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemp ...

Gustave Eiffel Alexandre Gustave Eiffel ( , ; Bonickhausen dit Eiffel; 15 December 1832 – 27 December 1923) was a French civil engineer. A graduate of École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, he made his name with various bridges for the French railway net ...

and

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

. He also wrote translations, including ''Ceux de Falesa'' by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

and Mickey Spillane's detective novels.

Work

Novels

*1977: ''Les Demoiselles sauvages'', Paris, JC Lattès *1979: ''Le Général des galères'', JC Lattès *1981: ''Les Îles captives'', JC Lattès *1982: ''La Gloire au Liban'', JC Lattès *1984: ''Le Roi a fait battre tambour'', JC Lattès *1985: ''Eugénie, les larmes aux yeux'', JC Lattès *1988: ''Le Royaume d'Arles'', JC Lattès *2000: ''Le Seul Amant'', Paris,

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 ...

(in collaboration with Jean-Claude Lattès) *2003: ''Le Scorpion d'or'', Paris, La Table Ronde *2004: ''Marguerite et les Enragés : meurtre à Florence'', Seuil (in collaboration with Jean-Claude Lattès) *2011: ''Iphigénie Vanderbilt'', Paris, Robert Laffont *2013: ''Les Amants du grand monde'', Paris, Éditions de Fallois

Detective novels signed Bernard-Paul Lallier

*1984: ''Le Saut de l'ange'', Paris,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

*1969: ''L'Ange du paradis'', Fayard *1977: ''Terreur à Nantes'', Paris, Librairie des Champs-Élysées, n°1489

Essays

*1977: ''La France envolée : l'aviation et la décadence 1906–1976'', Paris, Société de production littéraire *1993: ''Histoire du Mont-de-Piété'', Paris, Le Cherche-Midi *1996: ''L'ABCdaire du cigare'', Paris, Flammarion, "Art de vivre" *1996: ''Le Cigare'', Paris, Éditions du Regard *1996: ''D'un musée l'autre en Picardie'', Éditions du Regard *2002: ''So British: Old England, Paris'', Éditions du Regard *2005: ''Château Lagrézette'', Éditions du Regard, (in collaboration with Alain-Dominique Perrin) *2009: ''Lafite Rothschild'', Éditions du Regard

Biographies

*1980: ''Saint-Exupéry'', Jean-Claude Lattès *1989: ''Mirbeau, roman d'une terre de France'', Jean-Claude Lattès *1991: ''Gide : le « contemporain capital »'', Paris, Perrin *1994: ''L'Orgueil du guerrier : Claude Barrès'', Perrin *1995: ''Agrippa d'Aubigné : le guerrier inspiré'', Paris, Robert Laffont *2002: ''Gustave Eiffel : un illustre inconnu'', Paris, Pygmalion *2006: ''Attila'', Paris, Gallimard, Folio. Biographies n°13 *2014: ''Pour Clemenceau'', Paris, Éditions de Fallois

Prizes

* 1968: Prix du Quai des Orfèvres for ''Le Saut de l'ange'', novel signed under the pseudonym Bernard-Paul Lallier * 1981
Prix Roland de Jouvenel
for ''Saint-Exupéry'' * 1984: Prix Roland de Jouvenel for ''Le roi a fait battre tambour'' * 1986:

Prix des Deux Magots The Prix des Deux Magots () is a major French literary prize. It is presented to new works, and is generally awarded to works that are more off-beat and less conventional than those that receive the more mainstream Prix Goncourt. The name derives ...

for ''Eugénie les larmes aux yeux'' * 1996
Prix de la biuographie
for ''Agrippa d'Aubigné, le guerrier inspiré''

Cinematographic adaptation

* 1971: ', French film by

, with

Jean Yanne Jean Yanne (; born Jean Roger Gouyé ; 18 July 1933 – 23 May 2003) was a French actor, screenwriter, producer, director and composer. In 1972, he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film '' We Won't ...

Senta Berger Senta Verhoeven (née Berger; ''Austrian German:'' , ; born 13 May 1941) is an Austrian-German actress. She received many award nominations for her acting in theatre, film, and television; her awards include three Bambi (prize), Bambi Awards, t ...

and

Sterling Hayden Sterling Walter Hayden (born Sterling Relyea Walter; March 26, 1916 – May 23, 1986) was an American actor, author, sailor, and Marine. A leading man for most of his career, he specialized in Westerns and film noir throughout the 1950s, in film ...

Sources

* and , ''Le Vrai Visage du Masque'', Volume 1, Paris, Futuropolis, 1984, (Bernard-Paul Lallier).

References

External links

Éric Deschodt
on the site of the Académie française
''Penjab'', Éric Deschodt
on La Cause Littéraire
Biographie et bibliographie sur Babelio

Eric Deschodt
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Deschodt, Eric 1937 births 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists French translators English–French translators French crime fiction writers 20th-century French essayists 21st-century French essayists French biographers Prix des Deux Magots winners 20th-century French journalists Living people