Lucien Bodard

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Notable

French writer and journalist specialized in Asia. Bodard was born in Chongqing (central China) where his father was the French consul. He grew up with the Chinese language and spoke Mandarin fluently as a child. Later on, he moved to Kunming and Shanghai after his father got positioned there. Before he reached adolescence, his mother decided to send Bodard to France to continue his studies. His experience and knowledge of Asian cultures, mostly Chinese and Vietnamese, gave him a unique perspective on events. He began his career in 1944 as journalist and was sent to the East to cover various topics such as the south-east Asian war and the rise of communist China. He progressively became one of the most famous French war correspondents for his work during the first French Indochina war and then the beginning of the American Vietnam war. Later he wrote about these wars in his books. he won several French literary prizes, including the Prix Interallié for "Monsieur le consul", a book on his father while he was the French Consul in Chengdu and in 1981 the Prix Goncourt for "Anne Marie", a book on the life and personality of his mother. Link to Wikipedia biography