The works of Juliette Benzoni, always attracting the reader with a unique combination of romanticism and the reality of historical facts, have now been translated into many languages and published in millions of copies in more than 20 countries around the world.
Childhood and family
The future famous writer was born in the seventh arrondissement of Paris, Palais-Bourbon on October 30, 1920. Her parents, an industrialist from Lorraine, Charles-Hubert Mangin, and a native of Champagne, Maria-Suzanne Arnault, gave her the name Andre-Marguerite-Juliette Mangin. The place where Juliette spent her childhood was a house located in the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, one of the oldest districts in Paris. In the same house, the great figures of French culture, art and science previously spent part of their lives: the writer Prosper Mérimée, the artist Jean-Baptiste Corot, the physicist and naturalist André-Marie Ampere.
Perhaps due to this, from childhood, Juliette showed a craving for literature. At first, these were the novels of Alexander Dumas the father, and later the works of Victor Hugo, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and Agatha Christie. Juliette's education, which began with Mademoiselle Desir at the so-called "fashion courses", was interrupted after a while, since the leadership of the prim educational institution did not appreciate the passion of such a young girl for the novel Notre Dame Cathedral. Parents had to send Juliette to a free lyceum, from where a year later she was transferred to the aristocratic elite college Paul Claudel Hulst.
After graduating from college and receiving her bachelor's degree, Juliette entered the Paris Catholic Institute. About a year later, when the war began, the training had to be stopped. After a while, Juliet's father suddenly died of a heart attack. Having suffered the loss, she entered the service in the prefecture, having received the opportunity she needed to use the richest library hidden within the walls of this institution.
Marriage and the beginning of a creative path
Juliette's first marriage took place at the end of 1941 at the age of 21. Her husband becomes Dr. Maurice Galois, a native of the city of Dijon. Immediately after the wedding, the newlyweds move to Maurice's homeland, where two children are born in the family. Maurice spends most of his time helping patients, as well as secretly participating in the French resistance.
All this time, Juliette completely devotes to children, as well as reading books about the history of medieval France. In 1950, after the sudden death of her husband from an attack of angina pectoris, Juliette and her children moved to the then French colony of Morocco. There, on the recommendation of friends, she gets a job in the editorial office of a local radio station, and three years later she remarries the gallant officer, the Corsican Count Andre Benzoni da Costa. After a while, Andre leaves military service and the family returns to France.
There Juliette and André settle in a suburb of Paris Saint-Mandé in a mansion from the time of Napoleon III. André soon went into politics, receiving the position of assistant to the mayor of Saint-Mandé. He held this position until his death in 1982. Juliette, returning to France, the first three were actively involved in journalism, writing many articles and essays on the history of France. And already in 1964 her first novel “Love. Only Love”, which immediately became a bestseller in France.
Creativity and recognition
The authorship of Juliette Benzoni belongs to more than 60 love-history novels, included in several cycles. The most famous cycle of works of the writer is considered to be "Katrin", completed in 1978 and includes 7 novels. In 1968, based on the series of novels "Catherine", a film of the same name was shot, which was successfully shown in France. In recognition of her work, Juliette Benzoni was awarded numerous prizes and awards, and in 1998 she was awarded the honorary title of Chevalier of the Order of Merit of the French Republic. Juliette Benzoni died at her home in Saint-Mandé on February 8, 2016. She was 95 years old.
