Jean Vautrin
1933–2015 · French writer, screenwriter and filmmaker
Jean Vautrin, born Jean Herman in Pagny-sur-Moselle in 1933 and died in 2015, was a French writer who also worked as a filmmaker, screenwriter and dialogue writer. He used his real name during his early years in film and adopted the pen name under which he won the Goncourt.
After studying literature at Auxerre, he placed first at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques. He lectured in French literature at the University of Bombay and worked as assistant director to Roberto Rossellini on a 1959 documentary. Back in France he directed several features, including Adieu l'ami, starring Alain Delon and Charles Bronson. In the 1970s he largely left filmmaking for fiction, beginning with crime novels in the Série noire collection.
His work moved between crime fiction and more personal stories. In 1989 he won the Prix Goncourt for Un grand pas vers le bon Dieu, which brought him wide recognition. His legacy lies mainly in postwar French crime fiction and in the adaptations of his texts into comics and film.
Key works
- À bulletins rouges (1973), his first novel, published in the Série noire.
- Un grand pas vers le bon Dieu (1989), Goncourt winner and his best-known novel.
- Le Cri du peuple (1998), which won the Louis-Guilloux prize and was adapted into a graphic novel by Jacques Tardi.
- Patchwork (1983), a novella that won the Deux Magots prize.
Curiosities
From film to fiction
He signed his early film work with his real name and adopted the pen name Jean Vautrin when he turned to literature.
A character based on a photographer
With Dan Franck he created the reporter Boro, modeled on the war photographer Robert Capa.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.