andrÃ© maurois (born Ãmile salomon wilhelm herzog; 26 july 1885 â 9 october 1967) was a french author. ==biography== maurois was born on 26 july 1885 in elbeuf and educated at the lycÃ©e pierre corneille in rouen,lycÃ©e pierre corneille de rouen - history both in normandy. a member of the javal family, maurois was the son of ernest herzog, a jewish textile manufacturer, and his wife alice lÃ©vy-rueff. his family had fled alsace after the franco-prussian war of 1870â71 and took refuge in elbeuf, where they owned a woollen mill. during world war i he joined the french army and served as an interpreter and later a liaison officer with the british army. his first novel, les silences du colonel bramble, was a witty and socially realistic account of that experience. it was an immediate success in france. it was translated and 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,his principal translator into english was hamish miles (1894â1937). as they often dealt with british people or topics, such as his biographies of disraeli, byron, and shelley. in 1938 maurois was elected to the prestigious acadÃ©mie franÃ§aise. he was encouraged and assisted in seeking this post by marshal philippe pÃ©tain, and he made a point of acknowledging with thanks his debt to pÃ©tain in his 1941 autobiography, "call no man happy" â though by the time of writing their paths had sharply diverged, pÃ©tain having become head of state of vichy france. when world war ii began, he was appointed the french official observer attached to the british general headquarters. in this capacity he accompanied the british army to belgium. he knew personally the main politicians in the french government, and on 10 june 1940 he was sent on a mission to london. the armistice ended that mission. maurois was demobilised and travelled from england to canada. he wrote of these experiences in his book, tragedy in france.maurois, 1940, foreword later in world war ii he served in the french army and the free french forces. his maurois pseudonym became his legal name in 1947. he died in 1967 in neuilly-sur-seine after a long career as an author of novels, biographies, histories, children's books and science fiction stories. he is buried in neuilly-sur-seine community cemetery near paris. ==family== maurois's first wife was jeanne-marie wanda de szymkiewicz, a young polish-russian aristocrat who had studied at oxford university. she had a nervous breakdown in 1918 and in 1924 she died of septicemia. after the death of his father, maurois gave up the family business of textile manufacturing. maurois'
1885_births 1967_deaths 20th-century_French_writers French_biographers French_memoirists French_military_personnel_of_World_War_I French_military_personnel_of_World_War_II French_novelists French_science_fiction_writers LycA(c)e_Pierre-Corneille_alumni Members_of_the_AcadA(c)mie_franASSaise People_from_Seine-Maritime