Romain Gary
Romain Gary, born Romain Kacewgari on May 8, 1914, in Vilnius, Lithuania, was a distinguished French author and diplomat. His early life was shaped by his mother, who worked as an actress and instilled in him a drive for success. After moving to France, Gary served in the French Air Force during World War II and later in the Royal Air Force, earning several military honors. He began his literary career post-war, with notable works that explored themes of morality, justice, and identity. His first novel, *A European Education*, reflects on the complexities of war, while *The Roots of Heaven* examines the ivory trade and the struggle for freedom in Africa. Gary's writing often addressed social issues, including racial discrimination, as seen in his later work, *The Life Before Us*, which earned him significant acclaim under the pseudonym Emile Ajar. Throughout his life, Gary received multiple prestigious literary awards, cementing his legacy as a powerful voice for justice and equality. He tragically took his own life on December 2, 1980.
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Romain Gary
Author
- Born: May 8, 1914
- Birthplace: Vilnius, Lithuania
- Died: December 2, 1980
- Place of death: Paris, France
Biography
Romain Gary was born Romain Kacewgari on May 8, 1914, in Vilnius, Lithuania, to Leibja and Mina (Josel) Kacewgari. His father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to raise him; she earned money by working as an actress and businesswoman. She installed a drive for success and fame into Gary from an early age and provided him with private lessons in fencing, riding, and the arts in addition to a formal education. The two moved to Warsaw and then to Nice, in southern France. Gary became a French citizen in 1928.
During World War II, Gary served in the French Air Force until the armistice was signed. He then fled to England and served in the English Royal Air Force and the Free French Air Force. He was wounded in battle three times, earned the Criox de Guerre, and was made a companion of the liberation and an officer of honor. After the war, Gary entered the French diplomatic services and worked there for ten years. In 1945 he married Lesley Blanch; the two divorced in 1963. Gary married American film star Jean Seberg and the two had one son, Diego, and a second son who died at birth. The couple divorced in 1970, and Seberg committed suicide in 1979.
In 1945 Gary compiled his war experience into his first novel, A European Education, which tells the story of young Poles forced to deceive and kill the enemy, whose morals they equate with those of the Germans. The novel was cited as one of the most poignant novels to come out of the war. Tulipe (1946) was a politically correct novel focusing on those not liberated by the defeat of the Nazis. In the book, Gary equates the struggles and discrimination of blacks and Jews. His work The Roots of Heaven introduces the reader to Morel, a prisoner in a German concentration camp whose dreams of African wildlife running free across the plains to helps him regain strength and comfort. When he is freed, he puts together a bizarre militia that attempts to stop the ivory trade in Africa. The book received critical acclaim and praise and was compared to Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
The Dance of Genghis Cohn offers a satirical and humorous look at the Holocaust; it tells the story of an SS officer who becomes possessed by the spirit of a Jewish prisoner he killed. After the war, the officer cannot stop himself from speaking Yiddish and confessing his sinful past. In The Life Before Us (“Madame Rosa”), the racial tensions between Jews, Arabs, Africans, and other immigrants in Paris are explored through the experiences of an orphaned boy raised by a senile Auschwitz survivor. Published under the pseudonym Emile Ajar, this novel was popular among French critics.
Romain Gary died from a self-inflicted gun shot on December 2, 1980. Gary received the Prix des Critiques for A European Education in 1956; the Prix Concourt for The Roots of Heaven in 1956 and for The Life Before Us (“Madame Rosa”) in 1975. He is most renowned for his commitment to spreading justice and equality through his literature.