Romain Gary | |
|---|---|
 Gary in 1961 | |
| Born | Roman Kacew[1] (1914-05-21)21 May 1914 |
| Died | 2 December 1980(1980-12-02) (aged 66) Paris, France |
| Pen name | Romain Gary, Émile Ajar, Fosco Sinibaldi, Shatan Bogat |
| Occupation | Diplomat, pilot, writer |
| Language | French, English, Polish, Russian, Yiddish |
| Nationality | French |
| Citizenship | Russian Empire and Republic of Poland / France (since 1935) |
| Education | Law |
| Alma mater | Faculté de droit d'Aix-en-Provence Paris Law Faculty |
| Period | 1945–1979 |
| Genre | Novel |
| Notable works | Les Racines du ciel La Vie devant soi |
| Notable awards | Prix Goncourt (1956 and 1975) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
 Literature portal | |
Romain Gary (pronounced[ʁɔ.mɛ̃ga.ʁi]; 21 May [O.S. 8 May] 1914 – 2 December 1980), bornRoman Kacew (pronounced[katsɛf]) and also known by the pen nameÉmile Ajar, was a French novelist, diplomat, film director, and World War IIaviator. He is the only author to have won thePrix Goncourt twice (once under a pseudonym). He is considered a major writer ofFrench literature of the second half of the 20th century. He was married toLesley Blanch, thenJean Seberg.
Gary was born Roman Kacew (Yiddish:רומן קצבRoman Katsev, Russian:Рома́н Ле́йбович Ка́цев,Roman Leibovich Katsev) inVilnius (at that time in theRussian Empire).[1][2] In his books and interviews, he presented many different versions of his parents' origins, ancestry, occupation and his own childhood. His mother, Mina Owczyńska (1879–1941),[1][3] was aJewish actress fromŠvenčionys (Svintsyán) and his father was a businessman named Arieh-Leib Kacew (1883–1942) fromTrakai (Trok), also aLithuanian Jew.[citation needed] The couple divorced in 1925 and Arieh-Leib remarried. Gary later claimed that his actual father was the celebrated actor and film starIvan Mosjoukine, with whom his actress mother had worked and to whom he bore a striking resemblance. Mosjoukine appears in his memoirPromise at Dawn.[4] Deported tocentral Russia in 1915, they stayed inMoscow until 1920.[5] They later returned toVilnius, then moved on toWarsaw. When Gary was fourteen, he and his mother emigrated illegally toNice, France.[6] Gary studied law, first inAix-en-Provence and then in Paris. He learned to pilot an aircraft in theFrench Air Force inSalon-de-Provence and inAvord Air Base, nearBourges.[7]
Despite completing all parts of his course successfully, Gary was the only one of almost 300 cadets in his class not to be commissioned as an officer. He believed the military establishment was distrustful of him because he was a foreigner and aJew.[6] Training onPotez 25 and Goëland Léo-20 aircraft, and with 250 hours flying time, only after three months' delay was he made asergeant on 1 February 1940. Lightly wounded on 13 June 1940 in aBloch MB.210, he was disappointed with thearmistice; after hearing Generalde Gaulle's radioappeal, he decided to go to England.[6] After failed attempts, he flew toAlgiers fromSaint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque in aPotez. Madeadjutant upon joining theFree French and serving onBristol Blenheims, he saw action across Africa and was promoted tosecond lieutenant. He returned to England to train onBoston IIIs. On 25 January 1944, his pilot was blinded, albeit temporarily, and Gary talked him to the bombing target and back home, the third landing being successful. This and the subsequentBBC interview andEvening Standard newspaper article were an important part of his career.[6] He finished the war as a captain in the London offices of theFree French Air Forces. As a bombardier-observer in theGroupe de bombardement Lorraine (No. 342 Squadron RAF), he took part in over 25 successful sorties, logging over 65 hours of air time.[8] During this time, he changed his name to Romain Gary. He was decorated for his bravery in the war, receiving many medals and honours, includingCompagnon de la Libération and commander of theLégion d'honneur. In 1945 he published his first novel,Éducation européenne. Immediately following his service in the war, he worked in the French diplomatic service inBulgaria and Switzerland.[9] In 1952 he became the secretary of the French Delegation to the United Nations.[9] In 1956, he becameConsul General inLos Angeles and became acquainted with Hollywood.[9]
In a memoir published in 1981, Paul Pavlowitch claimed that Gary also produced several works under the pseudonym Émile Ajar. Gary recruited Pavlowitch – his cousin's son – to portray Ajar in public appearances, allowing Gary to remain unknown as the true producer of the Ajar works, and thus enabling him to win the 1975 Goncourt Prize (a second win in violation of the prize's rules).[10]
Gary also published under the pseudonyms Shatan Bogat and Fosco Sinibaldi.[10]
Gary became one of France's most popular and prolific writers, writing more than 30 novels, essays and memoirs, some of which he wrote under a pseudonym.
He is the only person to win thePrix Goncourt twice. This prize for French language literature is awarded only once to an author. Gary, who had already received the prize in 1956 forLes racines du ciel, publishedLa vie devant soi under the pseudonym Émile Ajar in 1975. TheAcadémie Goncourt awarded the prize to the author of that book without knowing his identity. Gary's cousin's sonPaul Pavlowitch posed as the author for a time. Gary later revealed the truth in his posthumous bookVie et mort d'Émile Ajar.[11] Gary also published as Shatan Bogat, René Deville and Fosco Sinibaldi, as well under his birth name Roman Kacew.[12][13]
In addition to his success as a novelist, he wrote the screenplay for the motion pictureThe Longest Day and co-wrote and directed the filmKill! Kill! Kill! Kill!(1971),[14] which starred his wife at the time,Jean Seberg. In 1979, he was a member of the jury at the29th Berlin International Film Festival.[15]
After the end of the hostilities, Gary began a career as adiplomat in the service of France, in consideration of his contribution to the liberation of the country. In this capacity, he held positions in Bulgaria (1946–1947), Paris (1948–1949), Switzerland (1950–1951), New York (1951–1954) at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations. Here, he regularly rubbed shoulders with the JesuitTeilhard de Chardin, whose personality deeply marked him and inspired him, particularly for the character of Father Tassin inLes Racines du ciel. He was positioned in London 1955, and as Consul General of France in Los Angeles 1956–1960. Back in Paris, he remained unassigned until he was laid off from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1961).
Gary's first wife was the British writer,journalist, andVogue editorLesley Blanch, author ofThe Wilder Shores of Love. They married in 1944 and divorced in 1961. From 1962 to 1970, Gary was married to American actressJean Seberg, with whom he had a son, Alexandre Diego Gary. According to Diego Gary, he was a distant presence as a father: "Even when he was around, my father wasn't there. Obsessed with his work, he used to greet me, but he was elsewhere."[16]
After learning that Jean Seberg had had an affair withClint Eastwood, Gary challenged him to aduel, but Eastwood declined.[17]
Gary died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on 2 December 1980 in Paris. He left a note which said that his death had no relation to Seberg's suicide the previous year. He also stated in his note that he was Émile Ajar.[18]
Gary was cremated inPère Lachaise Cemetery and his ashes were scattered in theMediterranean Sea nearRoquebrune-Cap-Martin.[19]
The name of Romain Gary was given to a promotion of theÉcole nationale d'administration (2003–2005), theInstitut d'études politiques de Lille (2013), the Institut régional d'administration de Lille (2021–2022) and theInstitut d'études politiques de Strasbourg (2001–2002), in 2006 at Place Romain-Gary in the15th arrondissement of Paris and at the Nice Heritage Library. The French Institute in Jerusalem also bears the name of Romain Gary.
On 16 May 2019, his work appeared in two volumes in theBibliothèque de la Pléiade under the direction of Mireille Sacotte.
In 2007, a statue of Romualdas Kvintas, «The Boy with a Galoche», was unveiled, depicting the 9-year-old little hero of thePromise of Dawn, preparing to eat a shoe to seduce his little neighbor, Valentina. It is placed inVilnius, in front of the Basanavičius, where the novelist lived.
A plaque to his name is affixed in the Pouillon building of the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Aix-Marseille where he studied.
In 2022,Denis Ménochet portrayed Gary inWhite Dog (Chien blanc), a film adaptation byAnaïs Barbeau-Lavalette of Gary's 1970 book.[20]
Media related toRomain Gary at Wikimedia Commons
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