Albertine Sarrazin
Albertine Sarrazin, born Albertine Damien on September 17, 1937, in Algiers, Algeria, was a French writer known for her compelling narrative style and autobiographical themes. Raised in Aix-en-Provence, her early life was marred by trauma, including a sexual assault at the age of ten and subsequent struggles with delinquency, leading to her incarceration in a reform school. Sarrazin gained notoriety for her two major novels, *L'Astragale* and *La Cavale*, published in 1965, which drew heavily from her experiences as a prostitute, thief, and prisoner. These works not only achieved commercial success but also established her as a significant literary figure in French literature. Her marriage to fellow inmate Jean Sarrazin, marked by a deep emotional connection, added another layer to her complex life story. Tragically, Sarrazin's life was cut short at the age of 29 due to medical negligence following surgery. In her legacy, her husband created the Albertine Sarrazin Prize to honor emerging writers, ensuring her influence on literature continues. Sarrazin's life and works evoke themes of trauma, resilience, and the pursuit of identity, resonating with diverse audiences.
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Subject Terms
Albertine Sarrazin
Writer
- Born: September 17, 1937
- Birthplace: Algiers, Algeria
- Died: July 10, 1967
- Place of death: Montpellier, France
Biography
Albertine Sarrazin was born Albertine Damien in Algiers, Algeria, on September 17, 1937. Her father was a French military doctor and her mother was one of the doctor’s servants. When her father returned to France in early 1939, he brought his daughter with him. He told his wife, Thérèse, that he had adopted Albertine from an orphanage in Algiers rather than tell her the truth about his daughter’s birth.
Sarrazin was raised in the southern French city of Aix-en- Provence. Her early childhood was apparently enjoyable, but at the age of ten she was raped by a cousin. Her parents did nothing to send the criminal to prison and Sarrazin did not receive the psychotherapy she needed to recover from the trauma of rape. She became a juvenile delinquent and at the age of fifteen was sent to a reform school after her conviction for armed robbery. She completed her secondary studies in the reform school in Fresnes, from which she escaped in 1957. During her temporary freedom, she met another criminal named Jean Sarrazin, who was the love of her short life. They were married in prison on February 7, 1959.
Before their release from prison in 1964, Albertine sent Jean powerful love letters, which he published in 1971. Her two major novels L’Astragale (1965; Astraga, 1967) and La Cavale (1965; The Runaway, 1967), were published in 1965 by the eminent Parisian publishing house of Jean-Jacques Pauvert. These two novels, which were based largely on her life as a prostitute, a thief, and a prisoner, sold very well and Sarrazin soon became famous and relatively wealthy. She and her husband used their new wealth to purchase a house in the southern French city of Montpelier.
Her good fortune, however, did not last long. On July 10, 1967, she died in a recovery room after surgery as a result of medical negligence. Her anesthesiologist miscalculated the amount of anesthesia she needed for her operation, failing to account for her weight. Her husband successfully sued this anesthesiologist and Jean Sarrazin used this money to publish his wife’s remaining works and to create an Albertine Sarrazin Prize to honor young fiction writers.