Jean Raspail facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean Raspail
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Raspail in 2010
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| Born | 5 July 1925 Chemillé-sur-Dême, Indre-et-Loire, France |
| Died | 13 June 2020 (aged 94) Paris, France |
| Occupation | Author |
| Notable works | The Camp of the Saints; Moi, Antoine de Tounens, roi de Patagonie |
| Notable awards | Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française (1981) Prix Maison de la Presse (1995) Grand prix de littérature de l'Académie française (2003) Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations (2007) Prix Combourg-Chateaubriand (2008) |
Jean Raspail (born July 5, 1925 – died June 13, 2020) was a French author, traveler, and explorer. He wrote many books about history, exciting journeys, and different groups of people around the world.
Raspail received important French literary awards, like the Grand Prix du Roman and the Grand Prix de littérature from the Académie française. In 2003, the French government honored him by making him an Officer of the Legion of Honour. He is known internationally for his 1973 novel The Camp of the Saints. This book explores ideas about how societies might change when large numbers of people move from one part of the world to another.
Contents
Life and Career
Jean Raspail was born on July 5, 1925, in Chemillé-sur-Dême, France. His father, Octave Raspail, was a factory manager. Jean went to private Catholic schools in Paris and other French towns.
Early Travels and Explorations
For the first 20 years of his career, Jean Raspail traveled all over the world. He went on an amazing car trip from Tierra del Fuego (at the southern tip of South America) all the way to Alaska (at the northern tip of North America) between 1950 and 1952.
In 1954, he led a French research trip to the land of the ancient Incas in South America. These adventures gave him many ideas for his books.
Literary Achievements
Jean Raspail also served as the Consul General for the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia. This was a unique role connected to a historical, self-proclaimed kingdom in South America.
In 1981, his novel Moi, Antoine de Tounens, roi de Patagonie (which means I, Antoine of Tounens, King of Patagonia) won the Grand Prix du Roman. This is a major award for novels in France.
Themes in His Books
Many of Raspail's books were inspired by his traditional Catholic beliefs. He often wrote about ideal societies where he imagined different political ideas failing. Sometimes, his stories showed a Catholic monarchy being restored in France.
For example, in his 1990 novel Sire, he imagined a young French king being crowned in Reims in 1999. This king, Philippe Pharamond de Bourbon, was a direct descendant of France's last kings.
The Camp of the Saints
Jean Raspail's most famous book is The Camp of the Saints, published in 1973. In this novel, he explored the idea of how Western societies might be affected by large-scale movements of people from other parts of the world.
The book has been translated into many languages, including English, German, and Spanish. By 2006, it had sold over 500,000 copies, showing how widely it was read and discussed.
After The Camp of the Saints, Raspail wrote other novels, such as North, Sire, and The Fisher's Ring. He also wrote articles for magazines like Le Figaro. In these articles, he shared his thoughts on how changes in population might affect French culture and identity.
Later Recognition
In 1970, the Académie française gave Jean Raspail the Jean Walter Prize for all his literary work. In 2007, he received the Grande Médaille d’Or des Explorations et Voyages de Découverte (Grand Gold Medal for Explorations and Discovery Voyages) from the Société de géographie of France. This award recognized his lifetime of travel and writing about exploration.
Personal Life
Jean Raspail lived in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a town near Paris. He passed away on June 13, 2020, at the age of 94, in the Henri-Dunant Hospital.
Works
- Terre de feu – Alaska (Land of Fire – Alaska) (1952) – adventure writing
- Terres et Peuples Incas (Inca Lands and Peoples) (1955)
- Le Vent des Pins (1958), translated as Welcome Honorable Visitors: a novel (1960)
- Terres Saintes et Profanes (Lands Holy and Profane) (1960)
- Les Veuves de Santiago (The Widows of Santiago) (1962)
- Hong-Kong, Chine en sursis (Hong Kong, A Reprieve for China) (1963)
- Secouons le cocotier (Let's Shake the Coconut Tree) (1966) – travel writing
- Secouons le cocotier : 2, Punch Caraïbe (Let's Shake the Coconut Tree 2: Caribbean Punch) (1970) – travel writing
- Bienvenue Honorables Visiteurs (le Vent des pins) (Welcome Honorable Visitors) (1970) – novel
- Le Tam-Tam de Jonathan (Jonathan's Drum) (1971) – short stories
- L'Armada de la Dernière Chance (Last-Chance Armada) (1972)
- Le Camp des Saints (1973), translated as The Camp of the Saints (1975) – novel
- La Hache des Steppes (The Steppes Axe) (1974)
- Journal Peau Rouge (Red Skin Journal) (1975)
- Nuage Blanc et les Peaux-Rouges d'aujourd'hui (White Cloud and the Redskins of Today) (1975) – by Aliette and Jean Raspail
- Le Jeu du Roi (The King's Game) (1976) – novel
- Boulevard Raspail (Raspail Boulevard) (1977) – columns
- Les Peaux-rouges aujourd'hui (Redskins Today) (1978)
- Septentrion (North) (1979), translated as Septentrion (2022) – novel
- Bleu caraïbe et citrons verts : mes derniers voyages aux Antilles (Caribbean Blue and Green Lemons: My Last Trips to the Antilles) (1980)
- Les Antilles, d'île en île (The Antilles, From Island to Island) (1980)
- Moi, Antoine de Tounens, roi de Patagonie (I, Antoine of Tounens, King of Patagonia) (1981) – novel
- Les Hussards : histoires exemplaires (The Hussars: Representative Stories) (1982)
- Les Yeux d'Irène (Irene's Eyes) (1984) – novel
- Le Président (The President) (1985) – novel
- Qui se souvient des hommes... (1986), translated as Who Will Remember the People...: A Novel (1988) – novel
- L'Île bleue (1988), translated as Blue Island: A Novel (1991)
- Pêcheurs de Lune (Moon Fishers) (1990)
- Sire (Sire) (1990) – novel
- Vive Venise (Long Live Venice) (1992) – by Aliette and Jean Raspail
- Sept cavaliers quittèrent la ville au crépuscule par la porte de l'Ouest qui n'était plus gardée (Seven Riders Left the City at Dusk through the Western Gate, Which Was No Longer Guarded) (1993) – novel
- L'Anneau du pêcheur (The Ring of the Fisherman) (1995) – novel
- Hurrah Zara ! (Hooray Zara!) (1998) – novel
- Le Roi au-delà de la mer (The King Over the Water) (2000) – novel
- Adiós, Tierra del Fuego (Goodbye, Tierra del Fuego) (2001) – travel writing
- Le son des tambours sur la neige et autres nouvelles d'ailleurs (The Sound of Drums on Snow, and Other News from Elsewhere) (2002)
- Les Royaumes de Borée (The Kingdoms of Borée) (2003) – novel
- En canot sur les chemins d'eau du roi, une aventure en Amérique (2005) – travel writing
Adaptations
Some of Jean Raspail's works have been turned into films and comic books:
- Le Roi de Patagonie (1990), a TV mini-series
- Le Jeu du roi (1991), a TV film
- L'Île bleue (2001), a TV film
- Sept cavaliers (2008–2010), a comic book series in three parts
- Le Royaume de Borée (2011–2014), a comic book series in three parts
Images for kids
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Jean Raspail in 2010
See also
In Spanish: Jean Raspail para niños
