André Maurois



André Maurois, born Emile Salomon Wilhelm Herzog, (26 July 1885, Elbeuf, Seine-Maritime – 9 October 1967) was a French author.

Life
Maurois was born in Elbeuf and educated in Rouen, both in Normandy.

During World War I he joined the French army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer to the British army. His first novel, Les silences du colonel Bramble, was a witty but socially realistic account of that experience. It was an immediate success in France. It was translated and also became popular in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries as The Silence of Colonel Bramble. Many of his other works have also been translated into English (mainly by Hamish Miles (1894 - 1937)), as they often dealt with British people or topics, such as his biographies of Disraeli, Byron, and Shelley.

During 1938 Maurois was elected to the prestigious Académie française.

When World War II began, he was appointed the French Official Observer attached to the British General Headquarters. In his official capacity he accompanied the British Army to Belgium. He personally knew the main politicians of the French Government, and on 10 June 1940, he was sent on a mission to London. The Armistice ended that mission. Maurois was demobilized and traveled from England to Canada. He wrote of these experiences in his book, Tragedy in France.

During World War II he served in the French army and the Free French Forces.

"André Maurois" was a pseudonym that became his legal name in 1947.

He died during 1967 after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, and children's books. He is buried in the Neuilly-sur-Seine community cemetery near Paris.