Françoise Chandernagor (born 15 June 1945, Palaiseau) is a French writer. The daughter of André Chandernagor, she is a former student of the

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

, and she became a member of the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

in 1969.

Biography

She was born to a family of masons related to the descendants of an Indian free slave (hence her name). She married Philippe Jurgensen and is the mother of three children. Françoise Chandernagor divides her life between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and France's central

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. After receiving her diploma from the institute of political studies of Paris and a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in public law, she was admitted at age 21 to the National School of Administration -

(ÉNA), finishing two years later at the top of her class, the first woman to reach such position. In 1969 she entered the Council of State where she held various legal posts, most notably as Attorney-General. She also held positions in the foreign service, both in cultural and economic affairs, and held leadership positions in charities, particularly as the vice president of the France Foundation until 1988 and as the vice president of the Aguesseau Foundation. In 1991, she drafted the annual report of the

on "sécurité juridique" (The protection of the rights of the citizen in the judicial system). She left the administration and abandoned her career as a civil servant in 1993, to dedicate her time to writing. Since 1981, when she published '' The King's Way'' (fictionalized memoirs of Madam de Maintenon -

Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon Françoise d'Aubigné (27 November 1635 – 15 April 1719), known first as Madame Scarron and subsequently as Madame de Maintenon (), was a French nobility, French noblewoman and the second wife of Louis XIV, Louis XIV of France from 1683 until ...

, the second wife of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, Françoise Chandernagor wrote six novels and a play (

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

in 1993-1994 and to

in 1994-1995). Several of her novels were translated in fifteen languages, and two of them were the object of television adaptations. Françoise Chandernagor presides the Jean Giono Prize, and is currently the administrator of the Foundation of the Castle of Maintenon, Corporation of the readers of the World, and Century. She is member of the Académie Goncourt since June 1995.

Works

*''L'Allée du Roi'' (1981) *''Leçons de ténèbres'' *''La Sans Pareille'' (1988) *''L'Archange de Vienne'' (1989) *''L'Enfant aux loups'' (1990) *''L'Ombre du Soleil'' (monologue théâtral after ''L'Allée du Roi'', 1994) *''L'Enfant des Lumières'' (1995) *''La Première épouse'' (1998) *''Maintenon'' (in collaboration with Georges Poisson, 2001) *''La Chambre'' (2002) *''Couleur du temps'' (2004)

External links

Site de Françoise ChandernagorSite of Académie Goncourt
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandernagor, Francoise French women novelists 1945 births Living people French women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century French women writers 20th-century French novelists École nationale d'administration alumni 20th-century French dramatists and playwrights 21st-century French novelists 21st-century French women writers People from Palaiseau