Irène Némirovsky (; born Irina Lvovna Nemirovskaya; 11 February 1903 – 17 August 1942) was a novelist of Ukrainian Jewish origin who was born in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. She lived more than half her life in France and wrote in French, but was denied French nationality. Arrested as a Jew under the

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout the history of antisemitism and Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". During the 1930s and early 1940s, some law ...

which did not take into account her conversion to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

she died in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

at the age of 39. Némirovsky is best known for the posthumously published '' Suite française''.

Life and career

Irina Lvovna Nemirovskaya was born in 1903 in Kiev, then

, the daughter of a wealthy banker, Lev (later Léon) Borisovich Nemirovsky. Her volatile and unhappy relationship with her mother Fanni Yonovna Margolis Nemirovskya became the heart of many of her novels. Her family fled the Russian Empire at the start of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

in 1917, spent 1918 in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, and then settled in

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 ...

, where Némirovsky attended the Sorbonne and began writing when she was 18 years old. In 1926, Némirovsky married Michel Epstein, a banker, and had two daughters: Denise, born in 1929; and Élisabeth, in 1937. In 1929, she published '' David Golder'', the story of a Jewish banker unable to please his troubled daughter. It was an immediate success, and was adapted to the big screen by

Julien Duvivier Julien Duvivier (; 8 October 1896 – 29 October 1967) was a French film director and screenwriter. He was prominent in French cinema in the years 1930–1960. Amongst his most original films, chiefly notable are ''La Bandera (film), La Bandera'', ...

in 1930, with Harry Baur as David Golder. In 1930, her novel ''Le Bal'', the story of a mistreated daughter and the revenge of a teenager, became a play and a movie. The ''David Golder''

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

was sent by post to the publishing company Éditions Grasset with a

poste restante (, "waiting mail"), also known as general delivery in North American English, is a service where the post office holds the mail until the recipient calls for it. It is a common destination for mail for people who are visiting a particular locat ...

address and signed ''Epstein''. H. Muller, a reader for Grasset, immediately tried to find the author but failed, so Grasset advertised in newspapers for the author's identity. However, she was busy bearing her first child, Denise. When Némirovsky finally appeared as the author of ''David Golder'', the unverified story is that the publisher was surprised that such a young woman was able to write such a powerful book. Although she was widely recognized as a major authoreven by some

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

writers like Robert Brasillach French nationality was denied to the Némirovskys in 1938. Némirovsky was of

Russian-Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest po ...

origin, but was

baptized Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...

into the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in 1939 and wrote in ''

Candide ( , ) is a French satire written by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment, first published in 1759. The novella has been widely translated, with English versions titled ''Candide: or, All for the Best'' (1759); ''Candide: or, The ...

'' and '' Gringoire'', two magazines with ultra-nationalist tendencies. After the war started, ''Gringoire'' was the only magazine that continued to publish her work, thus "guarantee ngNémirovsky's family some desperately needed income". By 1940, Némirovsky's husband was unable to continue working at the bank, and Némirovsky's books could no longer be published, because of her Jewish ancestry. Upon the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s' approach to

, they fled with their two daughters to the village of Issy-l'Evêque (the Némirovskys initially sent them to live with their nanny's family in

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, while staying on in Paris themselves; they had already lost their Russian home and refused to lose their home in France), where Némirovsky was required to wear the Yellow star. On 13 July 1942 (three days before the start of the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup), Némirovsky (then 39) was arrested in front of her daughters as a "stateless person of Jewish descent" by policemen employed by

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

. As she was being taken away, she told her daughters, "I am going on a journey now." She was brought to a convoy assembly camp at Pithiviers, and on 17 July 1942, together with 928 other Jewish deportees, transported to the Nazi concentration camp

, in Poland. Upon her arrival there two days later, her forearm was marked with an identification number. She died a month later of

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

. On 6 November 1942, her husband, Michel Epstein, was sent to Auschwitz and immediately murdered in the

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...

Rediscovery

Némirovsky is now best known as the author of the unfinished '' Suite française'' (Denoël, France, 2004, ; translation by Sandra Smith, Knopf, 2006, ), two

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most novelettes and short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) ...

s portraying life in France between 4 June 1940 and 1 July 1941, the period during which the

s occupied most of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. These works are considered remarkable because they were written during the actual period itself and yet are the product of considered reflection, rather than just a journal of events, as might be expected considering the personal turmoil experienced by the author at the time. Némirovsky's older daughter, Denise, kept the notebook containing the manuscript for ''Suite française'' for fifty years without reading it, thinking it was a journal or diary of her mother's, which would be too painful to read. In the late 1990s, however, she made arrangements to donate her mother's papers to a French archive and decided to examine the notebook first. Upon discovering what it contained, she instead had it published in France, where it became a

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

in 2004. It sold 2.5 million copies by 2008 and has been translated into 38 languages. The original manuscript has been given to the '' Institut mémoires de l'édition contemporaine'' (IMEC), and the novel has won the

Prix Renaudot The Prix Théophraste-Renaudot or () is a French literary award. History The prize was created in 1926 by ten art critics awaiting the results of deliberation of the jury of the Prix Goncourt. While not officially related to the Prix Goncour ...

the first time the prize has been awarded posthumously. Némirovsky's surviving notes sketch a general outline of a

story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...

that was intended to include the two existing novellas, as well as three more to take place later during the war and at its end. She wrote that the rest of the work was "in limbo, and what limbo! It's really in the lap of the gods since it depends on what happens." In a January 2006 interview with the BBC, her daughter Denise said, "For me, the greatest joy is knowing that the book is being read. It is an extraordinary feeling to have brought my mother back to life. It shows that the Nazis did not truly succeed in killing her. It is not vengeance, but it is a victory."

Controversy

Several reviewers and commentators have raised questions regarding Némirovsky's conversion to Catholicism, her generally negative depiction of Jews in her writing and her use of ultra-nationalist publications to provide for her family. Myriam Anissimov's introduction to the French edition of ''Suite française'' describes Némirovsky as a "

self-hating Jew The terms "self-hating Jew", "self-loathing Jew", and "auto-antisemite" (, ) are pejorative terms used to describe Jews that oppose certain characteristics that the claimant considers core to Jewish identity. Early claims of self-hate were used ...

", due to the fact that Némirovsky's own situation as a Jew in France is not at all seen in the work. The paragraph was omitted from the English edition. A long article in '' The Jewish Quarterly'' argued that there had been an "abdication of critical responsibility in exchange for the more sensational copy to be had from Némirovsky’s biography" by most reviewers in the British press.

''Fire in the Blood''

In 2007, another novel by Némirovsky was published, after a complete manuscript was found in her archives by two French biographers. ''Chaleur du sang''translated to English by Sandra Smith as ''Fire in the Blood''is a tale of country folk in a Burgundy village, based on Issy-l'Évêque where Némirovsky and her family found temporary refuge while hiding from the Nazis.

Works

Published during the author's life

* ''L'Enfant génial'' (Éditions Fayard, 1927). Was renamed by the publisher ''L'enfant prodige'' in 1992 with the approval of Némirovsky's daughters, because the French term ''génial'' had become widely used in slang (similar to ''awesome'') and no longer had the same connotations. * '' David Golder'' (Éditions Grasset, 1929). ''David Golder'', trans. Sylvia Stuart (1930); also trans. Sandra Smith (2007). * '' Le Bal'' (Éditions Grasset, 1930). Trans. Sandra Smith in ''Le Bal / Snow in Autumn'' (2007) * ''Le malentendu'' (Éditions Fayard, 1930) * ''Les Mouches d'automne'' (Éditions Grasset, 1931). Trans. Sandra Smith in ''Le Bal / Snow in Autumn'' (2007) * ''L'Affaire Courilof'' (Éditions Grasset, 1933). ''The Courilof Affair'', trans. Sandra Smith (2008) * ''Le Pion sur l'échiquier'' (

Éditions Albin Michel Éditions Albin Michel is a French publisher. In January 2019, the new President and CEO is Gilles Haéri. In January 2022, the director is Anna Pavlowitch, the daughter of Paul Pavlowitch. History It was founded in 1900 by Albin Michel. They ...

, 1934) * ''Films parlés'' (Éditions Nouvelle Revue Française, 1934) * '' Le Vin de solitude'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1935). ''The Wine of Solitude'', trans. Sandra Smith (Vintage, 2012). * ''Jézabel'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1936). ''A Modern Jezebel'', trans. Barre Dunbar (Henry Holt & Co., 1937); also as ''Jezebel'', trans. Sandra Smith (Vintage, 2010). * ''La Proie'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1938) * ''Deux ''(Éditions Albin Michel, 1939) * ''Le maître des âmes'' (Revue Gringoire, 1939, published as weekly episodes). ''Master of Souls'', trans. Sandra Smith (2022) * '' Les Chiens et les loups'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1940). ''The Dogs and the Wolves'', trans. Sandra Smith (2009)

Works published posthumously

* ''La Vie de Tchekhov'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1946) * '' Les Biens de ce monde'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1947). ''All Our Worldly Goods'', trans. Sandra Smith (Vintage, 2011). * ''Les Feux de l'automne'' (Éditions Albin Michel, 1957). ''The Fires of Autumn'', trans. Sandra Smith (2014). * ''Dimanche'' (short stories) ( Éditions Stock, 2000). ''Dimanche and Other Stories'', trans. Bridget Patterson ( Persephone Books, 2010) * ''Destinées et autres nouvelles'' (Éditions Sables, 2004) * '' Suite française'' (Éditions Denoël, 2004). ''Suite Française'', trans. Sandra Smith (

Chatto & Windus Chatto & Windus is an imprint of Penguin Random House that was formerly an independent book publishing company founded in London in 1855 by John Camden Hotten. Following Hotten's death, the firm would reorganize under the names of his busines ...

, 2004;

Alfred A. Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

, 2006). * ''Le maître des âmes'' (Éditions Denoël, 2005) * '' Chaleur du sang'' (Éditions Denoël, 2007). ''Fire in the Blood'', trans. Sandra Smith (Chatto & Windus, 2007, ) * ''Les vierges et autres nouvelles'', Éditions Denoël, 2009

Compilations in English

* ''Le Bal / Snow in Autumn'', trans. Sandra Smith (2007) * ''David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn, The Courilof Affair'', trans. Sandra Smith (2008)

Awards and honours

* 2004:

, for '' Suite française''

Adaptations

* An opera made from the 1930 novel ''Le Bal'' was first performed in 2010 at the Hamburg Opera House, Germany (composed by Oscar Strasnoy, adapted by Matthew Jocelyn.) * A dramatization of the 1930 novel ''Le malentendu'' was broadcast by BBC Radio as ''The Misunderstanding'' in January 2019. * A film dramatization of 'Suite Francais' was released by the Weinstein Company, BBC, and others in 2015: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suite_Fran%C3%A7aise_(film).

Biography

A biography of Némirovsky, '' Irene Nemirovsky: Her Life And Works'', written by Jonathan Weiss, was published in 2006.

Notes

References

External links

*
Site dédié à l'écrivain Irène Némirovsky

Irene Nemirovsky at Random House Australia
*
Université McGill: le roman selon les romanciers
Inventory and analysis of Irene Némirovsky's non-novelistic writings about novel
Interview of Denise Epstein & Sandra Smith

WAMU WAMU (88.5 FM) is a public news– talk station that services the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area. It is owned by American University, and its studios are located near the campus in northwest Washington. WAMU has been the primary Nati ...

American University Radio
Jewish Literary Review: "Tell the full story of Irène Némirovsky"

Author Profile at Persephone Books
Critical reviews of ''Suite française'' *
Peter Kemp
in

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

Andrew Riemer in The Sydney Morning Herald

by: Paul La Farge {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemirovsky, Irene 1903 births 1942 deaths Writers from Kyiv French Roman Catholics French women novelists Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism Jewish novelists Deaths from typhus Jewish French writers French people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Russian writers in French French writers Prix Renaudot winners French civilians killed in World War II 20th-century French women writers 20th-century French novelists Ukrainian Jews who died in the Holocaust French Jews who died in the Holocaust Emigrants from the Russian Empire to France Infectious disease deaths in Poland