20th-century French male writers

Henry_Laverne

Henry Laverne (born Henri Allum; 1888 or 1890 – 4 September 1953) was a French stage and film actor; Laverne was also a comedian and humorist for a decade, as well as a singer on occasion. As an actor, he was usually billed Henry-Laverne in his time (later Henri Laverne) and starred in about twenty films and plays; credits include six films and plays from Sacha Guitry, such as The Lame Devil (1948). As a comedian, he was one half of then-famous comic duo Bach and Laverne (1928–1938; Bach et Laverne in French); one of their 157 comedy sketches was adapted as the lyrics to Ray Ventura's hit comedy song "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" (1935; lit. "All is very well, Madam the Marchioness").

Jacques_Guillermaz

Jacques Guillermaz (16 January 1911 – 4 February 1998) was a French diplomat, military officer, and scholar of modern Chinese history. He served as military attaché in China from 1937 to 1943, then returned to fight for the liberation of France in 1943, served once more in China from 1945 to 1951, and went on to advise the French government on policy toward Asia. In 1958 he founded the Center for Research and Documentation on Modern and Contemporary China and wrote widely on modern Chinese affairs. He is particularly known for his studies of Chinese Communist Party history.His honors include reaching the rank of General in the French Army and receiving the Académie française Prix Albéric Rocheron in 1969 for Histoire du parti communiste chinois and again in 1973 for his book, Le parti communiste chinois au pouvoir.

Pierre_Siniac

Pierre Siniac (1928–2002) received the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1981 for three of his works, including Aime le Maudit.
Ferdinaud Céline was published in French in 1997 to great acclaim. Translated to English by Jordan Stump, it was published under the title The Collaborators. Pierre Bayard discussed it in Comment parler des livres que l'on n'a pas lus? (How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read).A story about the Paris Métro Line 8 inspired his novel Le Crime du dernier métro, published in 2001.

André_Héléna

André Héléna (8 April 1919 – 18 November 1972) was a French writer who spent most of his life in Leucate (southern France) on the mediterranean coast. He was born in Narbonne and died at Leucate, aged 53.

Jean-Claude_Izzo

Jean-Claude Izzo (Marseille 20 June 1945 – Marseille 26 January 2000) was a French poet, playwright, screenwriter, and novelist who achieved sudden fame in the mid-1990s with the publication of his three neo-noir crime novels Total Chaos, Chourmo, and Solea (widely known as the Marseilles Trilogy), featuring as protagonist ex-cop Fabio Montale, and set in the author's native city of Marseille. All have been translated into English by Howard Curtis.Jean-Claude Izzo was born on 20 June 1945 in Marseille, France. His father was an Italian immigrant from Castel San Giorgio (Province of Salerno) and his maternal grandfather was a Spanish immigrant. He excelled in school and spent much of his time at his desk writing stories and poems. But because of his "immigrant" status, he was forced into a technical school where he was taught how to operate a lathe.
In 1963, he began work in a bookstore. He also actively campaigned on behalf of Pax Christi, a Catholic peace movement. In 1964, he was called up for military duty in Toulon and Djibouti. He worked for the military newspaper as a photographer and journalist.

Charles_Exbrayat

Charles Exbrayat (5 May 1906 – 8 March 1989) was a French fiction writer. He published over 100 novels and short stories, most of them humorous thrillers. They were very popular and a considerable number were turned into films.
While living in Nice with his parents, he was studying to becoming a medical doctor, but then found his true calling as a writer.
His debut novel was Aller sans Retour (single fare, no return), written while in Geneva, before going to Paris. He was one of the most famous French authors of the illustrious "le Masque" collection. He wrote a number of novels set in Scotland (Imogene series) and in Italy. His other interests included gourmet food and fine wines.