About

Known credits:
34
Birthday:
1898-01-31
Place of birth:
Clara, Argentina
Website:
N/A

Joseph Kessel

Overview

Joseph Kessel (10 February 1898 – 23 July 1979), also known as "Jef" was a French journalist and novelist. He was a member of the Académie française and Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour.

Kessel was born to a Jewish family in Villa Clara, Entre Ríos, Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a Litvak physician. From 1905 to 1908, Joseph Kessel lived the first years of his childhood in Orenburg, Russia, before the family moved to France in 1908. He studied in lycée Masséna, Nice and lycée Louis-le-Grand, Paris and took part in the First World War as an aviator. He was also an aviator during the Second World War, in the Free French Groupe de Bombardement n° 1/20 "Lorraine" (342 Squadron RAF) with RAF Bomber Command, with Romain Gary, who was also a talented French novelist.

Kessel wrote several novels and books that were later represented in the cinema, notably Belle de Jour (by Luis Buñuel in 1967). In 1943 he and his nephew Maurice Druon translated Anna Marly's song Chant des Partisans into French from its original Russian. The song became one of the anthems of Free French Forces during the Second World War.

Kessel was elected to the Académie française in 1962 and died on 23 July 1979 in Avernes, Val-d'Oise of a ruptured aneurysm. He is buried in the Cimetière du Montparnasse in Paris. On his deathbed he was quoted as saying that his greatest accomplishment was the birth of his son, Joseph Kessel, who was born just a few months prior on 24 February of the same year. The Joseph-Kessel Prize (Prix Joseph Kessel) is a prestigious prize in French language literature, given to "a book of a high literary value written in French". The jury counts or has counted among its members Tahar Ben Jelloun, Jean-Marie Drot, Michèle Kahn, Pierre Haski, Gilles Lapouge, Michel Le Bris [fr], Érik Orsenna, Patrick Rambaud, Jean-Christophe Rufin, André Velter and Olivier Weber.

Source: Article "Joseph Kessel" from Wikipedia in english, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Known for

Acting
1956 Sikkim, terre secrète Actor N/A
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Writing
2003 The Lion Writing Writer 58
Average
1994 La Règle de l'homme Writing Novel 58
Average
1986 Queen of Hearts Writing Novel N/A
N/A
1982 The Passerby Writing Novel 59
Average
1971 The Horsemen Writing Novel 59
Average
1969 Army of Shadows Writing Novel 70
Good
1968 A Wall in Jerusalem Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1967 Belle de Jour Writing Author 68
Fair
1967 The Night of the Generals Writing Screenplay 61
Fair
1962 The Lion Writing Novel 58
Average
1959 The Devil's Pass Writing Writer 58
Average
1956 Sikkim, terre secrète Writing Writer N/A
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1955 Oasis Writing Writer N/A
N/A
1955 Fortune carrée Writing Novel 58
Average
1955 Lovers' Net Writing Novel 58
Average
1953 Act of Love Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1951 Sirocco Writing Novel 58
Average
1949 At the Grand Balcony Writing Writer 59
Average
1947 Sky Battalion Writing Screenplay 59
Average
1940 African Diary Writing Writer 59
Average
1938 Ab Mitternacht Writing Novel N/A
N/A
1937 The Woman I Love Writing Novel N/A
N/A
1936 The Fear Writing Dialogue 58
Average
1936 The Fear Writing Writer 58
Average
1936 Mayerling Writing Dialogue 59
Average
1935 Flight Into Darkness Writing Writer 58
Average
1935 Flight Into Darkness Writing Novel 58
Average
1935 Les Bateliers de la Volga Writing Screenplay N/A
N/A
1935 Les Bateliers de la Volga Writing Novel N/A
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1934 Cease Firing Writing Screenplay N/A
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1929 Princely Nights Writing Novel N/A
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1928 The Crew Writing Novel N/A
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Sound
2000 Traitor or Patriot Sound Music N/A
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