Franoise Malletjoris

Vocation

Belgian author, the daughter of the writer Suzanne Lilar and the Belgian Minister of Justice and Minister of State Albert Lilar, and the sister of the 18th century art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar. Mallet-Joris spent two years in the United States before going to Paris, France, where she attended the Sorbonne. Mallet-Joris began her literary career early with the publication of Le rempart des Béguines in 1951. It was translated as The Illusionist. It is set in a town that resembles Mallet-Joris' native Antwerp and addresses the themes of social class and lesbianism. She followed her first work with a sequel in 1955, La chambre rouge (in English, The Red Room). In it, she continued her treatment of social class and norms in Belgium. She was a member of the Prix Femina committee from 1969 to 1971 when she was appointed to the Académie Goncourt. She was married to Robert Amadou, Alain Joxe and Jacques Delfau, and has four children, Daniel Amadou, and Vincent, Alberte and Pauline Delfau. She died on 13 August 2016, aged 86, in Bry-sur-Marne, France. Link to Wikipedia biography