View source for Joseph Kessel

{{short description|French writer}}
{{Infobox military person
|honorific_prefix=
|name=Joseph Kessel
|birth_date={{Birth date|df=yes|1898|2|10}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1979|7|23|1898|2|10}}
|birth_place= [[Villa Clara, Entre Ríos|Villa Clara]], [[Entre Ríos Province|Entre Ríos]], Argentina
|death_place=[[Avernes]], [[Val-d'Oise]], [[France]]
|placeofburial=
|image= Joseph Kessel.jpg
|caption= Kessel in June 1948
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|France}}<br>{{flag|Free France}}
|branch= [[File:Roundel of the French Fleet Air Arm.svg|25px]] [[French Naval Aviation]] <br> [[File:Free French Air Forces Roundel 2.svg|25px]] [[Free French Air Forces]]
|serviceyears=1914–1918<br>1939–1945
|rank=
|commands=
|unit=
|awards=[[Legion of Honour]]
|battles= {{tree list}} 
*[[World War I]]
*[[World War II]]{{tree list end}}
|laterwork=Journalist<br>Writer}}
'''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]].

==Biography==
Kessel was born to a [[Argentine Jews|Jewish]] family in [[Villa Clara, Entre Ríos|Villa Clara]], [[Entre Ríos Province|Entre Ríos]], Argentina, because of the constant journeys of his father, a [[Lithuanian Jews|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]] {{lang|fr|Groupe de Bombardement n° 1/20 "Lorraine"}} ([[No. 342 Squadron RAF|342 Squadron RAF]]) with [[RAF Bomber Command]],{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} with [[Romain Gary]], who was also a talented French novelist.

Kessel wrote several novels and books that were later adapted into films, notably ''[[Belle de jour (film)|Belle de Jour]]'' (by [[Luis Buñuel]] in 1967) and ''L'armée des ombres'' ([[Army of Shadows]]) (by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] in 1969). In 1943 he and his nephew [[Maurice Druon]] translated [[Anna Marly]]'s song ''[[Chant des Partisans]]'' into French from its original [[Russian language|Russian]]. The song became one of the anthems of [[Free French Forces]] during the Second World War.

Kessel also occasionally worked as a reporter, covering [[Sinn Féin]], the rise of the Nazis in Germany, and the [[Philippe Pétain#Postwar life|Pétain trial]].<ref>[[Julian Jackson (historian)|Jackson, Julian]] (2023) ''France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain.'' Belknap Press</ref>

Kessel was elected to the ''[[Académie française]]'' in 1962 and died on 23 July 1979<ref>{{cite journal|title=Obituaries|journal=Cross & Cockade Journal|volume=20|publisher=the Society|year=1979|page=380}}</ref> in [[Avernes]], [[Val-d'Oise]] of a ruptured aneurysm. He is buried in Paris in the [[Cimetière du Montparnasse]]. 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]], [[Érik Orsenna]], [[Patrick Rambaud]], [[Jean-Christophe Rufin]], [[André Velter]] and [[Olivier Weber]].

== Bibliography ==
* ''[[La steppe rouge]]'' (1922)
* ''[[The Crew (novel)|The Crew]]'' (1923)
* ''Au camp des vaincus ou la critique du 11 mai '' (1924)
* ''[[Mary de Cork]]'' (1925)
* ''[[Les captifs]]'' (1926; [[Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française]])
* ''[[Nights of Princes (novel)|Nuits de princes]]'' (1927)
* ''[[Belle de Jour (novel)|Belle de Jour]]'' (1928; it inspired [[Luis Buñuel]]'s 1967 [[Belle de jour (film)|movie]] of the same name)
* ''[[Vent de sable (book)|Vent de sable]]'' (1929)
* ''Fortune carrée'' (1932)
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Le coup de grâce (novel)|fr|3=Le Coup de grâce (roman, 1931)|lt=Le coup de grâce}}'' (1931; made into the movie ''[[Sirocco (film)|Sirocco]]'' in 1951 with [[Humphrey Bogart]])
*''Wagon-lit'' (1932)
* ''La Passante du Sans-Souci'' (1936; turned into [[The Passerby (1982 film)|a movie]] by [[Jacques Rouffio]] in 1982)
* ''[[Hollywood, Ville mirage]]'' (Gallimard, NRF, 1936)
* ''Mermoz'' (1938)
* ''L'Armée des ombres'' (1943; adapted for [[Army of Shadows|a movie]] by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] in 1969); ''Army of Shadows'' (Contra Mundum Press: 2017), featuring an intro by Stuart Kendall
* ''Le Bataillon du ciel'' (Sky Battalion), (1946; turned into [[Le Bataillon du ciel|a movie]] by [[Alexander Esway]] in 1947): Free French [[Special Air Service|SAS]] paratroopers in Brittany in Summer 1944
* ''[[Le tour du malheur]]'' (1950)
* ''Les Amants du Tage'' (1954)
* ''[[La Vallée des Rubis]]'' (1955)
* ''Le lion'' (English translation: ''[[The Lion (Kessel novel)|The Lion]]''; 1958)
* ''Les mains du miracle'' (Gallimard, 1960). (English translation: {{cite book |title=The Man with the Miraculous Hands |translator-last=Weaver |translator-first=Helen |translator-link=Helen Weaver |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Cudahy |year=1961 |oclc=630284}})
* ''[[Les cavaliers]]'' (1967) (English translation: ''The Horsemen''. Translated by [[Patrick O'Brian]]. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1968) (filmed as ''[[The Horsemen (1971 film)|The Horsemen]]'' in 1971.)
* ''[[Moïse Kisling|Kisling]] 1891-1953'' (1971) avec [[Henri Troyat]]
* ''[[Partout un ami]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Des hommes]]'' (1972)
* ''[[Les temps sauvages]]'' (1975)
* ''The escape''

== Filmography ==
* ''[[The Crew (1928 film)|The Crew]]'', directed by [[Maurice Tourneur]] (France, 1928, based on the novel ''[[The Crew (novel)|The Crew]]'')
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Nuits de princes (1930 film)|fr|3=Nuits de princes (film, 1930)|lt=Nuits de princes}}'', directed by [[Marcel L'Herbier]] (France, 1930, based on the novel ''Nuits de princes'')
* ''[[The Crew (1935 film)|The Crew]]'', directed by [[Anatole Litvak]] (France, 1935, based on the novel ''The Crew'')
* ''[[The Woman I Love (1937 film)|The Woman I Love]]'', directed by [[Anatole Litvak]] (1937, based on the novel ''The Crew'')
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Nuits de princes (1938 film)|fr|3=Nuits de princes (film, 1938)|lt=Nuits de princes}}'', directed by [[Vladimir Strizhevsky]] (France, 1938, based on the novel ''Nuits de princes'')
* ''[[Le Bataillon du ciel]]'', directed by [[Alexander Esway]] (France, 1947, based on the novel ''Le Bataillon du ciel'')
* ''[[Sirocco (film)|Sirocco]]'', directed by [[Curtis Bernhardt]] (1951, based on the novel ''Le coup de grâce'')
* ''[[The Lovers of Lisbon]]'', directed by [[Henri Verneuil]] (France, 1955, based on the novel ''Les Amants du Tage'')
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Fortune carrée|fr}}'', directed by [[Bernard Borderie]] (France, 1955, based on the novel ''Fortune carrée'')
* ''[[The Lion (film)|The Lion]]'', directed by [[Jack Cardiff]] (1962, based on the novel ''[[The Lion (Kessel novel)|The Lion]]'')
* ''[[Belle de Jour (film)|Belle de Jour]]'', directed by [[Luis Buñuel]] (France, 1967, based on the novel ''[[Belle de Jour (novel)|Belle de Jour]]'')
* ''[[Army of Shadows]]'', directed by [[Jean-Pierre Melville]] (France, 1969, based on the novel ''L'Armée des ombres'')
* ''[[The Horsemen (1971 film)|The Horsemen]]'', directed by [[John Frankenheimer]] (1971, based on the novel ''Les Cavaliers'')
* ''[[The Passerby (1982 film)|The Passerby]]'', directed by [[Jacques Rouffio]] (France, 1982, based on the novel ''La Passante du Sans-Souci'')

=== Screenwriter ===
* ''[[Cease Firing]]'' (dir. [[Jacques de Baroncelli]], France, 1934)
* ''[[Mayerling (1936 film)|Mayerling]]'' (dir. [[Anatole Litvak]], France, 1936)
* ''Les Bateliers de la Volga'' (dir. [[Vladimir Strizhevsky]], France, 1936)<!--original screenplay-->
* ''[[La Peur (1936 film)|La Peur]]'' (dir. [[Victor Tourjansky]], France, 1936)
* ''[[The Secrets of the Red Sea]]'' (dir. [[Richard Pottier]], France, 1937)
* ''[[The Man from Niger]]'' (dir. [[Jacques de Baroncelli]], France, 1940)
* ''[[At the Grand Balcony]]'' (dir. [[Henri Decoin]], France, 1949)
* ''Le Grand Cirque'' (dir. [[Georges Péclet]], France, 1950)
* ''[[Act of Love (1953 film)|Act of Love]]'' (dir. [[Anatole Litvak]], 1953)
* ''[[Oasis (1955 film)|Oasis]]'' (dir. [[Yves Allégret]], France, 1955)
* ''{{Interlanguage link multi|La Passe du diable|fr}}'' (dir. [[Pierre Schoendoerffer]] and [[Jacques Dupont (director)|Jacques Dupont]], France, 1958)
* ''[[The Night of the Generals]]'' (dir. [[Anatole Litvak]], 1967)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|name=Joseph Kessel|id=0450262}}
* [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/les-immortels/joseph-kessel Biography] at the [[Académie française]] {{in lang|fr}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929035434/http://plaisirlitteraire.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=50 Plaisir Litteraire: ] an interesting contribution about the youth of Joseph Kessel's father  {{in lang|fr}}
* http://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/culture/preface/3467832-joseph-kessel.html

{{Académie française Seat 27}}
{{Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kessel, Joseph}}
[[Category:1898 births]]
[[Category:1979 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Entre Ríos Province]]
[[Category:Argentine Jews]]
[[Category:Argentine people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:French people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Democratic Union of Labour politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:French travel writers]]
[[Category:French war correspondents]]
[[Category:Jewish novelists]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:French military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Jews in the French resistance]]
[[Category:Members of the Académie Française]]
[[Category:Lycée Louis-le-Grand alumni]]
[[Category:Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française winners]]
[[Category:Burials at Montparnasse Cemetery]]
[[Category:20th-century French male writers]]
[[Category:French male non-fiction writers]]