Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt
Encyclopedia
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 dramatist, novelist and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

 writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

. His plays have been staged in over fifty countries all over the world.

Life

Schmitt studied at the Lycée du Parc
Lycée du Parc
The Lycée du Parc is a public secondary school located in the sixth arrondissement of Lyon, France. Its name comes from the Parc de la Tête d'Or, one of Europe's largest urban parks, which is situated nearby....

 in Lyon
Lyon
Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais....

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and École normale supérieure
École normale supérieure
An école normale supérieure or ENS is a type of publicly funded higher education in France. A portion of the student body who are French civil servants are called Normaliens....

 in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 (1980–1985), where he received a doctorate in philosophy. The title of his dissertation was "Diderot et la métaphysique" (in English: "Diderot and Metaphysics"). He spent three years teaching in Cherbourg and at the University of Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...

.

He is of Alsatian
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 extraction. Growing up under the influence of his parents' atheist
Atheism
Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities...

 outlook, he eventually professed himself a Christian after years of being an agnostic
Agnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....

.

Works

Initially, Schmitt was known as a scriptwriter for the stage. His debut work, "La nuit de Valognes", was produced a number of times in 1991 and 1992, both in France and abroad. His breakthrough theater work came with his second script, "Le Visiteur", which won Molière prizes for best author and best show in 1993-1994.

The following years were littered with theatrical successes such as "Golden Joe" (1995), "Variations Énigmatiques" (1996), "Le Libertin" (1997), "Milarepa" (1997), "Frédérick ou Le Boulevard du Crime" (1998), "Hôtel des deux mondes" (1999) and "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" (1999).

Schmitt covers a variety of themes in his work. "Golden Joe" takes a look of the cynical attitudes to life of those involved in high finance. In "Variations énigmatiques", the author gives voice to two very different men, who discuss their own philosophies of life and love - as it turns out, both were in love with the same woman. "Le Libertin" is a historical drama about the life of philosopher Denis Diderot and a film version was released in 2000.

In 2001, Schmitt was awarded the "Grand Prix du théâtre de l'Académie Française
Académie française
L'Académie française , also called the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution,...

". His plays have been performed in over fifty countries and translated into forty languages. They show influences from Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...

, Jean Anouilh
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...

 and Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...

, among others.

In addition to his plays, Schmitt has written a number of successful novels and short fiction, including La Secte des Égoïstes (1994), Oscar and the Lady in Pink
Oscar and the Lady in Pink (novel)
Oscar and the Lady in Pink is a novel of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, the third chapter of « Cycle de l'Invisible », published in 2002.These are the letters of a boy of ten addressed to God. They are found by 'Mamie Rose', the Lady in Pink of the title, who visits him in hospital in the pink uniform worn...

 (Oscar et la dame rose) (1999), L'Évangile selon Pilate (2000), La Part de l'Autre (2001), Lorsque j'étais une œuvre d'art (2002), L'enfant de Noé (2004), Ma vie avec Mozart (2005).

World religions play an important role in Schmitt's writing. In "Le Cycle de l'Invisible", Schmitt attempts a harmonization of religions and cultures. "Milarepa" is the first issue in this series and depicts Tibetan Buddhism. The second volume, "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" is dedicated to Sufism, a subset of Islam, also referencing Judaism. "Oscar et la dame rose" (the third volume) concerns Christianity. "L'enfant de Noé" deals with Judaism and Christianity. "Le Sumo qui ne pouvait pas grossir" (Zen Buddhism) rounds off the series.

In 2003 "Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran" (in English: M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran is a novel by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, originally published in French, in 2001.-Origins:Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran was originally written in French as a play, based upon the life of Schmitt's friend, Bruno Abraham Kremer...

) was adapted for film by François Dupeyron. Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...

 played the title role and won a César award for best actor in 2004.

In 2010 Schmitt was award the Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle for Concerto à la mémoire d'un ange.

He has lived in Brussels since 2002 and obtained Belgian Citizenship in 2008.

Novels

  • The Sect of the Egoists (La secte des égoïstes, 1994)
  • The Gospel According to Pilate (L'Évangile selon Pilate, 2000)
  • The Alternative Hypothesis (La part de l'autre, 2001)
  • When I Was a Work of Art (Lorsque j'étais une oeuvre d'art, 2002)
  • Ma vie avec Mozart (2005)
  • Ulysses from Bagdad (Ulysse from Bagdad, 2008)

Novellas

The Cycle of the Invisible (Le cycle de l'invisible)
  • Milarepa (1997)
  • Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
    M. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran
    Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran is a novel by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, originally published in French, in 2001.-Origins:Mr. Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran was originally written in French as a play, based upon the life of Schmitt's friend, Bruno Abraham Kremer...

     (Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran, 2001)
  • Oscar and the Lady in Pink
    Oscar and the Lady in Pink (novel)
    Oscar and the Lady in Pink is a novel of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, the third chapter of « Cycle de l'Invisible », published in 2002.These are the letters of a boy of ten addressed to God. They are found by 'Mamie Rose', the Lady in Pink of the title, who visits him in hospital in the pink uniform worn...

      (Oscar et la dame rose, 2002)
  • Noah's Child (L'enfant de Noé, 2003)
  • The Sumo Wrestler Who Could Not Gain Weight (Le Sumo qui ne pouvait pas grossir, 2009)

Short Stories

  • The Most Beautiful Book in the World (Odette Toulemonde et autres histoires, 2006)
  • The Dreamer of Ostend (La Rêveuse d'Ostende, 2007)

Essays

  • Diderot or the Philosophy of Seduction (Diderot ou la philosophie de la séduction, 1997)

Theater plays

  • Don Juan on Trial (La nuit de Valognes, 1991)
  • The Visitor (Le Visiteur, 1993)
  • Golden Joe (Golden Joe, 1995)
  • Enigma Variations (Variations Énigmatiques, 1996)
  • The Libertine (Le Libertin, 1997)
  • Frederick or the Crime Boulevard (Frédérick ou le Boulevard du Crime, 1998)
  • The Devil's School (L'École du diable, 1999)
  • Between Worlds (Hôtel des deux mondes, 1999)
  • The Gag (Le Bâillon, 2000)
  • One Thousand and One Days (Mille et un jours, 2001)
  • Partners in crime (Petits crimes conjugaux, 2004)
  • Sentimental Tectonics (La tectonique des sentiments, 2008)
  • Le Bossu (from a novel by Paul Féval)

External links

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