AndrŽ Malraux





AndrŽ Malraux (November 3, 1901 - November 23, 1976) was a French author,
adventurer and statesman.

Malraux was born in Paris. His parents separated when he was a child. He was
raised by his mother Berthe Lamy and grandmother Adrienne. His father
committed suicide in 1930.

Malraux studied Oriental languages at the ƒcole des Langues Orientales but
did not gradute. At the age of 21 he left for Cambodia with his wife Clara
Goldsmith. He was arrested and almost imprisoned for stealing a bas relief
from the temple at Bantai Srey.

He became highly critical of the French colonial authorities in Indochina
and 1925 helped to organize the Young Annam League and founded the newspaper
Indochina in Chains. He may also have worked for Kuomintang in China in 1927.

On his return to France he published his first novel, The Temptation of the
West (1926). This was followed by The Conquerors (1928), The Royal Way
(1930) and Man's Fate (French: La Condition Humaine) (1934), a powerful
novel about the defeat of a communist regime in Shanghai and the choices the
losers have to face. He won the 1933 Prix Goncourt of literature for the
latter novel.

In the 1930s Malraux also joined archeological expeditions to Iran and
Afghanistan. He founded the International Association of Writers for the
Defense of Culture with Louis Aragon.

During the Spanish Civil War Malraux served as a pilot for the Republican
forces. He was wounded twice in effort to stop Falangists takeover of
Madrid. He also toured the United States in an attempt to raise fund for the
Republicans. A novel about his experiences, Man's Hope, appeared in 1938. He
also divorced after the war.

On the outbreak of the Second World War Malraux joined the French Army and
served in a tank unit. He was captured in 1940 during the Western Offensive
but he escaped and joined the French Resistance. He was captured by the
Gestapo in 1944 and even though he underwent a mock execution he was still
alive when he was rescued by members of the resistance. He ended up leading
Brigade Alsace-Lorraine in defense of Strasbourg and takeover of Stuttgart.
He was awarded the MŽdaille de la RŽsistance, the Croix de Guerre, and the
British Distinguished Service Order.

After the war General Charles De Gaulle appointed Malraux as his minister of
information (1945-1946). In the 1950s he wrote about art and aesthetics. He
again became a minister for information in 1958 and a minister of cultural
affairs (1960-1969). During his term he authorized the cleaning of facades
of the Louvre and other publinc buildings, against the public protestations.

In 1948 Malraux married Marie-Madeleine Lioux, a widow of his half-brother.
In 1961 he lost his two sons in an accident. An international Malraux
Society was founded in the United States in 1968.

AndrŽ Malraux died in Paris on November 23, 1976. He was survived by his
daughter Florence Malraux.