Jean Bruno Wladimir François-de-Paule Lefèvre d'Ormesson (French: [ʒɑ̃ dɔʁməsɔ̃]; 16 June 1925 – 5 December 2017) was a French writer and novelist. He authored forty books, was the director of Le Figaro from 1974 to 1977, as well as the dean of the Académie Française, to which he was elected in 1973, until his death, in addition to his service as president of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences within UNESCO (1992–1997). A major public figure in France, known for his art de la conversation, Jean d'Ormesson was saluted as "the best of the French spirit" by President Emmanuel Macron upon his death.
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Early life
Jean d'Ormesson was born on 16 June 1925 in Paris into an aristocratic family; he was a count. His father, André Lefèvre, Marquis of Ormesson, was the French ambassador to Brazil.
D'Ormesson grew up in Bavaria, Romania and Brazil. He also spent time at the Château de Saint-Fargeau. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, and later called himself a secular Catholic, but not an atheist.
D'Ormesson attended preparatory school at the Lycée Henri-IV, and he was admitted to the École normale supérieure; he subsequently passed the agrégation in Philosophy.
Career
D'Ormesson was the author of more than forty books, including novels and plays. His first novels, L'amour est un plaisir, Un amour pour rien, Les illusions de la mer, were unsuccessful. His The Glory of the Empire received the Grand Prix du roman from the Académie française in 1971. His next novel, Au plaisir de Dieu, was made into a television film. His work was published in Bibliothèque de la Pléiade in 2015, while he was still alive.