Roger Peyrefitte

Roger Peyrefitte (Castres, 1907 - Paris, 2000) was a French diplomat and writer who turned the novel and the historical satire into fields of controversy. Writing in French during the second half of the twentieth century, he became known as much for his polished prose as for the disputes he provoked, especially with the Catholic Church. He is remembered as one of the authors who addressed homosexuality openly in postwar France.

Born into a middle-class family, he attended Jesuit and Lazarist boarding schools and later studied language and literature at Toulouse. After graduating first in his class from the Institut d'Études Politiques in Paris, he joined the diplomatic service and worked in Athens from 1933 to 1938. His diplomatic career was interrupted by resignations and reinstatements, and he finally left it in 1945, the same year his literary career took shape. His first major success, Special Friendships, describes life in a Catholic boarding school and won the Prix Renaudot in 1944. Jean Delannoy adapted it for the cinema in 1964.

In the 1950s he published Les Clés de saint Pierre, a satire of the Vatican and Pope Pius XII that caused a scandal, and Les Ambassades, an ironic look at diplomatic life. His novels, many based on real events, mix historical research with biting humour. His quarrel with François Mauriac, one of France's most prestigious Catholic writers, grew sharper after the film appeared. Peyrefitte defended sexual freedom and denounced public figures who, in his view, hid their own inclinations. His legacy is contested: he is recognised as a literary provocateur and a pioneer in depicting homosexuality, though his works have also drawn criticism for their treatment of paederasty. He died in Paris in 2000.