Source: National Archives & Historic Records of Russian Empire (Lithuania)
Literature & Poetry • Historical Archive • 🇱🇹 Lithuania • 0 views

Romain Gary 🇱🇹

Roman Kacew (Romain Gary) (Known as "Émile Ajar / Roman Kacew")
Novelist, Free French War Hero, Diplomat, Only Author to Win the Prix Goncourt Twice
Born May 21, 1914 🇱🇹 Vilnius, Lithuania
Passed Away Dec 02, 1980 Paris (Rue du Bac), France
Lifespan 66 years old
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Notice / Correction
"J'ai enfin exprimé ce que j'avais à dire: je me suis bien amusé. Au revoir et merci."

Archival Overview

Free French aviator, diplomat, and literary chameleon who pulled off the greatest literary hoax in French history, becoming the only author to win the Prix Goncourt twice (in 1956 as Gary, and in 1975 as Émile Ajar).

Biographical Record

Born Roman Kacew in Vilnius, he was raised by his fiercely devoted mother in Nice. Enlisting in the Free French Air Force in 1940, Gary flew twenty-five combat missions with the Lorraine Squadron, receiving the Companion of the Liberation from General de Gaulle.

He won the 1956 Prix Goncourt for Les Racines du ciel (The Roots of Heaven, the first modern eco-novel). Tired of critical pigeonholing, he created the phantom pseudonym Émile Ajar in 1974, publishing La Vie devant soi (The Life Before Us, featuring Madame Rosa and Momo), winning the Goncourt a second time in total secrecy, revealed only in his posthumous confession Vie et mort d'Émile Ajar.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial
Père Lachaise Crematorium (Ashes scattered in the Mediterranean Sea off Menton)
Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), France
GPS: 43.7750, 7.5000
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