Simenon, Georges

Simenon, Georges

▪ Belgian-French author
in full  Georges-Joseph-Christian Simenon 
born Feb. 13, 1903, Liège, Belg.
died Sept. 4, 1989, Lausanne, Switz.
 Belgian-French novelist whose prolific output surpassed that of any of his contemporaries and who was perhaps the most widely published author of the 20th century.

      Simenon began working on a local newspaper at age 16, and at 19 he went to Paris determined to be a successful writer. Typing some 80 pages each day, he wrote, between 1923 and 1933, more than 200 books of pulp fiction under 16 different pseudonyms, the sales of which soon made him a millionaire. The first novel to appear under his own name was Pietr-le-Letton (1929; The Strange Case of Peter the Lett), in which he introduced the imperturbable, pipe-smoking Parisian police inspector Jules Maigret to fiction. Simenon went on to write 83 more detective novels featuring Inspector Maigret, as well as 136 psychological novels. His total literary output consisted of about 425 books that were translated into some 50 languages and sold more than 600 million copies worldwide. Many of his works were the basis of feature films or made-for-television movies. In addition to novels, he wrote three autobiographical works—Pedigrée (1948), Quand j'étais vieux (1970; When I Was Old), and Mémoires intimes (1981; Intimate Memoirs), the last after the suicide of his only daughter—and a critically well-received trilogy of novellas about Africa, selections of which were published in English as African Trio (1979).

      Despite these other works, Simenon remains inextricably linked with Inspector Maigret, who is one of the best-known characters in detective fiction (detective story). Unlike those fictional detectives who rely on their immense deductive powers or on police procedure, Maigret solves murders using mainly his psychological intuition and a patiently sought, compassionate understanding of the perpetrator's motives and emotional composition. Simenon's central theme is the essential humanity of even the isolated, abnormal individual and the sorrow at the root of the human condition. Employing a style of rigorous simplicity, he evokes a prevailing atmosphere of neurotic tensions with sharp economy.

      Simenon, who traveled to more than 30 countries, lived in the United States for more than a decade, starting in 1945; he later lived in France and Switzerland. At the age of 70 he stopped writing novels, though he continued to write nonfiction.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Simenon, Georges (-Joseph-Christian) — born Feb. 13, 1903, Liège, Belg. died Sept. 4, 1989, Lausanne, Switz. Belgian born French novelist. During 1923–33 he wrote more than 200 pseudonymous books of pulp fiction. His first novel under his own name was The Case of Peter the Lett (1931) …   Universalium

  • Simenon, Georges (-Joseph-Christian) — (13 feb. 1903, Lieja, Bélgica–4 sep. 1989, Lausana, Suiza). Novelista francés de origen belga. Durante 1923–33 escribió más de 200 libros de literatura barata que publicó con un seudónimo. La primera novela que firmó con su propio nombre fue… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Simenon,Georges Joseph Christian — Si·me·non (sē mə nôɴʹ), Georges Joseph Christian. 1903 1989. Belgian born French writer known especially for his detective novels featuring Inspector Maigret, including Maigret s Memoirs (1950). * * * …   Universalium

  • Simenon, Georges — ► (1903 89) Novelista belga. Creó el personaje del comisario Maigret, protagonista de sus novelas policíacas: El noviazgo de M. Hire (1933) y El presidente (1958), entre otras …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Simenon — Simenon, Georges …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Georges Simenon — Georges Simenon, 1963, Foto von Erling Mandelmann Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (* 12. Februar 1903[1] in Lüttich; † 4. September 1989 in Lausanne) war ein belgische …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Georges-Martin Georges — Georges Simenon Pour les articles homonymes, voir Simenon. Georges Simenon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Georges Joseph Christian Simenon — Georges Simenon Pour les articles homonymes, voir Simenon. Georges Simenon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Georges Martin-Georges — Georges Simenon Pour les articles homonymes, voir Simenon. Georges Simenon …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Georges Sim — Georges Simenon Pour les articles homonymes, voir Simenon. Georges Simenon …   Wikipédia en Français

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