Educated at the Institut Saint-Andre and the College Saint-Louis, Simenon did not get a degree, but rather joined the Gazette de Liege, a local newspaper. His reporter job allowed him to explore the seedier elements of Liege including police investigations and criminal activity. He used various pseudonyms to write over 350 novels and short stories from 1921 to 1934. His father passed in 1922 and Simenon moved to Paris further exploring the world of crime. In 1930, he created the famous detective Maigret. In the early 1930s, he travelled all over the world and returned to Paris in 1935. Although he produced a number of works during the Second World War, many thought him a collaborator and he was even forbidden to publish in France for 5 years in 1950. He left for Canada in 1945, spending time in Quebec and Montreal before moving to the USA, living in Arizona and California. In 1952, he was made a member of the Acadamie Royale de Belgique. He returned to Europe in 1955, initially living in France before settling in Switzerland. He had surgery for a brain tumour in 1984, and, although he recovered, his health deteriorated and he died in his sleep in 1989. Maigret will always be remembered as his greatest character. His works include The Crime at Lock 14 (1931), The Engagement (1933), Tropic Moon(1940), The Widow (1942), Three Bedrooms in Manhattan (1945), My Friend Maigret (1949), Big Bob (1954), Maigret in Court (1960), The Cat (1967), Maigret and Monsieur Charles (1972) and The Bottom of the Bottle (1977). |
