Armand Lanoux

Lanoux, Armand (1913-83). French novelist, historian of the Paris Commune (La Polka des canons, 1971, and Le Coq rouge, 1972); also an essayist-biographer. The three strands of his work are evident in Adieu la vie, adieu l'amour (1977), a ‘novel’ based on wartime (1914-18) correspondence of Roland Dorgelès. Similarly, in Bonjour, Monsieur Zola (1954) Zola is the ‘hero’ of a solidly documented fictionalization of the author's life and times. Lanoux's own war experiences formed the historical basis for the trilogy Margot l'enragée: Le Commandant Watrin (1956, Prix Interallié), Le Rendezvous de Bruges (1958), and Quand la mer se retire (1963, Prix Goncourt).

[Alistair Blyth]