Everyone knows Georges Simenon's detectives. His books have been filmed several times, the heroes have become part of real life, common characters, role models. But as a rule, readers know very little about the writer himself.
The most famous hero of Georges Simenon was the police commissioner Maigret. But in the "piggy bank" of this writer there are other books, the total number of which is more than 400 works. The classic detective described his biography, career path and personal life in a three-volume book, which was sold in a multimillion circulation, but after his death.
Biography of the writer Georges Simenon
The future classic of the detective genre was born in the winter of 1903 in the family of a modest employee of an insurance company. Georges's parents were very religious and prophesied for him the service of a curé or, at least, the profession of a pastry chef, which was popular at that time in their homeland, Belgium, but the boy chose literature. He himself dreamed of becoming a journalist or editor of a major publication, but fate decreed otherwise.
After the death of his father, Georges had to give up his studies in college and, like all ordinary guys, to serve out a service in one of the military units. An independent life began after serving in the army, and not just anywhere, but in Paris. To make a living, Georges began writing - reviews, small news essays, articles for the yellow press. This was the start in his writing career.
Career Georges Simenon
The scanty pay for journalistic work prompted Georges to write a large-scale work. The young man always thought long-term, one might say, was a dreamer. Those around him and loved ones did not believe in success, which further encouraged him. As a result of painstaking work, Simenon's first work, The Journalist's Novel, was published, but it did not bring him the desired fame and demand as an author.
Fame and real income came to Georges only in 1929, when the first of the novels about the commissar Megre, Peters the Lett, was published. The readers got carried away, the critics were jubilant, and they all demanded more. Simenon began to work actively - it took him no more than 11 days to create an impressive novel. His assistants made fun of it - reprinting takes longer than writing a piece. Together with the success came financial stability.
Personal life of Georges Simenon
In the personal life of this writer, everything was not as smooth and successful as in his career. Georges Simenon was married twice, he had four children from two wives, but one of his daughters committed suicide at the age of 25.
Simenon parted with his wives, having lived with each no more than 15 years. He was very fond of boasting about his amorous adventures and claimed that in his "piggy bank" he had connections with more than 10,000 women. Whether this is so, now it is already impossible to say for sure, but in the autobiographical three-volume of the writer there are several chapters about his love affairs.
