Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (born 28 March 1960) is a Francoâ€"Belgian
playwright, short story writer and novelist, as well as a film
director. His plays have been staged in over fifty countries all over
the world.[1]Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's parents were teachers of physical
education and sport, and his father later became a physiotherapist and
masseur in paediatric hospitals. He was also a French boxing champion
while his mother was a medal-winning runner. His grandfather was an
artisan jeweller.The "Classiques & Contemporains" edition of La Nuit
de Valognes (Don Juan on Trial) claims that Schmitt depicts himself as
a rebellious teenager who detested received wisdom and was sometimes
prone to violent outbursts. According to Schmitt, however, it was
philosophy that saved him and taught him to be himself and to feel
that he was free. One day, his mother took him to the Théâtre des
Célestins to see a performance of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac
starring Jean Marais. Her son was moved to tears and the seeds of his
passion for the theatre were sown. After the show, he told his mother
that he wanted to "be like the man on the poster"; his mother thought
he meant the actor, Jean Marais, but he replied: "No!" and read out
the name on the poster "Edmond Rostand". He then began to write.
Later, he would say: "At sixteen, I realised (or decided) that I was a
writer, and I wrote, produced and acted in my first plays at high
school." To improve his style, he threw himself with frenzied zeal
into exercises of pastiche and re-writing, especially Molière.After
preparatory classes at the Lycée du Parc for France's elite
universities, Schmitt passed the entrance exam to the École normale
supérieure. He was a student there between 1980 and 1985, leaving
with the top French teaching qualification in philosophy (agrégé de
philosophie). In 1987, he was awarded the degree of PhD for his thesis
"Diderot and Metaphysics" at the Paris-Sorbonne University, which was
published in 1997 with the title "Diderot or the Philosophy of
Seduction".
playwright, short story writer and novelist, as well as a film
director. His plays have been staged in over fifty countries all over
the world.[1]Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt's parents were teachers of physical
education and sport, and his father later became a physiotherapist and
masseur in paediatric hospitals. He was also a French boxing champion
while his mother was a medal-winning runner. His grandfather was an
artisan jeweller.The "Classiques & Contemporains" edition of La Nuit
de Valognes (Don Juan on Trial) claims that Schmitt depicts himself as
a rebellious teenager who detested received wisdom and was sometimes
prone to violent outbursts. According to Schmitt, however, it was
philosophy that saved him and taught him to be himself and to feel
that he was free. One day, his mother took him to the Théâtre des
Célestins to see a performance of Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac
starring Jean Marais. Her son was moved to tears and the seeds of his
passion for the theatre were sown. After the show, he told his mother
that he wanted to "be like the man on the poster"; his mother thought
he meant the actor, Jean Marais, but he replied: "No!" and read out
the name on the poster "Edmond Rostand". He then began to write.
Later, he would say: "At sixteen, I realised (or decided) that I was a
writer, and I wrote, produced and acted in my first plays at high
school." To improve his style, he threw himself with frenzied zeal
into exercises of pastiche and re-writing, especially Molière.After
preparatory classes at the Lycée du Parc for France's elite
universities, Schmitt passed the entrance exam to the École normale
supérieure. He was a student there between 1980 and 1985, leaving
with the top French teaching qualification in philosophy (agrégé de
philosophie). In 1987, he was awarded the degree of PhD for his thesis
"Diderot and Metaphysics" at the Paris-Sorbonne University, which was
published in 1997 with the title "Diderot or the Philosophy of
Seduction".
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.