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Encyclopedia entry: Genet, Jean
- Article from:
- Who's Who in the Twentieth Century
Copyright© Who's Who in the Twentieth Century 1999, originally published by Oxford University Press 1999. (Hide copyright information)
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Genet, Jean (1910–1986)
French novelist and dramatist. Genet was born in Paris, the unwanted illegitimate son of a prostitute. Convicted of petty theft at an early age, he spent part of his youth in the reform school at Mettray; his experiences there inspired part of the novel
Miracle de la rose
(1946; translated as
Miracle of the Rose
, 1965). In the 1930s Genet made his living as a pickpocket and male prostitute in various European cities and was frequently imprisoned; the autobiographical
Journal du voleur
(1949; translated as
The Thief's Journal
, 1965) describes this period of his life. While in Fresnes prison in 1942 Genet began to write poetry, and the novel
Notre-Dame des ...