Muriel Barbery (born 28 May 1969) is a French

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

teacher. Her 2006 novel '' The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' quickly sold more than a million copies in several countries.

Biography

Barbery was born in

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, but she and her parents moved when she was two months old. She studied at the

Lycée Lakanal Lycée Lakanal is a public secondary school in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It was named after Joseph Lakanal, a French politician, and an original member of the Institut de France. The school also offers a mi ...

, entered the

École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

in 1990 and obtained her ''

agrégation In France, the () is the most competitive and prestigious examination for civil service in the French public education A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all stu ...

'' in philosophy in 1993. She then taught philosophy at the

Université de Bourgogne The University of Burgundy Europe (, UBE; formerly known as University of Dijon) is a public university located in Dijon, France. The University of Burgundy Europe is situated on a large campus (more than 150 ha) in the eastern part of Dijon cal ...

, in a ''

lycée In France, secondary education is in two stages: * ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 14. * ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for students between ...

'', and at the

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy.IUFM (teacher training college). After she quit her job, she lived in 2008–2009 in Japan. She currently lives in Europe. Her novel ''L'Élégance du hérisson'' (translated by Alison Anderson as '' The Elegance of the Hedgehog'') topped the French bestseller lists for 30 consecutive weeks and was reprinted 50 times, selling over a million copies by May 2008. It has also been a bestseller in Italy, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and in many other countries. The story concerns the inhabitants of a small upper-class Paris apartment block, notably its crypto-intellectual

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

, Renée. She and Paloma, the likewise intellectual (even radical) teenage daughter of a resident family, narrate the book in turn. Renée also features briefly in Barbery's first novel, '' Une Gourmandise'', which appeared in Anderson's English translation as ''Gourmet Rhapsody'' in 2009. ''The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' was turned into a 2009 film called ''Le Hérisson'' (in English ''

The Hedgehog ''The Hedgehog'' (''Le Hérisson'') is a French film directed by Mona Achache, loosely based on the novel '' The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' by Muriel Barbery. Made in 2008, the film was released in theatres in 2009. Plot Paloma is an 11-year ...

''), directed by

Mona Achache Mona Achache (born 18 March 1981) is a French-Moroccan film director, screenwriter, and actress. She wrote and directed the feature films ''The Hedgehog'' (2009), '' Les Gazelles'' (2014), '' Valiant Hearts'' (2021), and '' Little Girl Blue'' ( ...

. In 2025, One Hour of Fervor was longlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely ...

Novels

*''Une gourmandise'', Gallimard, 2000; in English, ''Gourmet Rhapsody'',

Europa Editions Europa Editions is an independent trade publisher based in New York. The company was founded in 2005 by the owners of the Italian press and specializes in literary fiction, mysteries, and narrative non-fiction. Europa has published books by aut ...

, August 2009. *'' L'élégance du hérisson'', Gallimard, 2006; in English ''The Elegance of the Hedgehog'',

, September 2008. *''La vie des elfes'', Gallimard, March 2015; in English (translated by Alison Anderson) ''The Life of Elves'',

, February 2016. *''Un étrange pays'', Gallimard, January 2019. *''Une rose seule'', Éditions Actes Sud, August 2020.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbery, Muriel 1969 births Living people People from Casablanca 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists ENS Fontenay-Saint-Cloud-Lyon alumni Academic staff of the University of Burgundy Prix des libraires winners Lycée Lakanal alumni 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers