Andrée Chedid

Andrée Chedid, born Andrée Saab Khoury, was an Egyptian-French poet and novelist of Lebanese descent. She is the recipient of numerous literary awards and was made a Grand Officer of the French Legion of Honour in 2009.

Andrée Chedid published her first collection of poems On the Trails of my Fancy in 1943 in Cairo. She settled in Paris with her husband in 1946 and began writing there. In addition to numerous poems and novels, she also wrote plays and children's books. Her poetry books were partly illustrated by the Luxembourg painter Roger Bertemes .

In 1972, Chedid received the Prix de l'Aigle d'or for poetry followed by numerous other literary awards. For her books Fraternité de la parole and Cérémonial de la violence in 1976 she was awarded the Prix Mallarmé .

Her best-known work is novel L'Autre which has been translated into many languages and tells of the rescue from an earthquake spilled by an ancient Egyptian. It was made into a movie in 1991 by Bernard Giraudeau under the title L'Autre.

Andrée Chedid was also awarded the Grand Prize of the Société des Auteurs et Compositeurs Dramatiques, the Grand Prize of the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique (SACEM) in 1999 and the Prix Goncourt of poetry.