Joseph Kessel (1898–1979)

Joseph Kessel, born to a Jewish family in Argentina, grew up in Russia and France. He served as a pilot in the French Air Force in World War I. From this experience, he wrote his first hit book, L'Équipage (The Crew, 1923). In the interwar years, he became known as a hard-drinking, womanizing adventurer, journalist, and novelist. During this time, Kessel covered important historical events such as the Irish Revolution, the slave trade in the Middle East, the Spanish Civil War, and the rise of the Nazis. He joined the French Resistance in World War II, and in 1943 produced one of the most famous novels of resistance to the German Occupation, L'Armée des Ombres (Army of Shadows). With his nephew Maurice Druon, he also co-wrote the "Chant des Partisans," the song that became the anthem of the Resistance movement. He finished the war back in the Armée de l'air as a pilot in a squadron that flew over France at night to maintain liaison with the Resistance and give it instructions. He was elected to the Académie française in 1962. In 1967, his earlier novel Belle de Jour (1928) was adapted by Luis Buñuel into a now-classic film of the same name. The Prix Joseph Kessel, established in his memory in 1991, is a prestigious annual French literary award.