Gabriel Matzneff

Gabriel Matzneff
Matzneff in 2015
Matzneff in 2015
Born (1936-08-12) 12 August 1936 (age 88)
Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
OccupationWriter
Alma materUniversity of Paris
Period1961–present
Spouse
Tatiana Scherbatcheff
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(m. 1970; div. 1973)​

Gabriel Michel Hippolyte Matzneff[1] (born 12 August 1936) is a French writer. He was the winner of the Mottard and Amic awards from the Académie française in 1987 and 2009 respectively, the Prix Renaudot essay in 2013 and the Prix Cazes in 2015. He is also known for his descriptions of his paedophilia and child sex tourism in print, online, and on television.

Matzneff described his pedophilia and child sex tourism in some of his books and on his website, and even in television appearances. Despite this, he remained sheltered from prosecution throughout his literary career, benefiting from wide and enthusiastic support within French literary circles despite the fact his books did not sell well among the general public.[2]

In February 2020, following intense media coverage of a recently published book by Vanessa Springora, one of his victims, French prosecutors announced that a criminal investigation had been launched,[3] though the statute of limitations meant the case was dismissed.[4]

  1. ^ "Zvrhlík bez škrupúľ! Otvorene hovoril o svojej chuti na deti oboch pohlaví. Teraz je na dne". Plus 7 dní [sk] (in Slovak). 21 February 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Pédophilie: avec Matzneff, l'édition va-t-elle connaître son affaire Polanski?", LExpress.fr (in French), 23 December 2019, retrieved 11 June 2020
  3. ^ Onishi, Norimitsu (11 February 2020), "A Pedophile Writer Is on Trial. So Are the French Elites", The New York Times, retrieved 11 February 2020
  4. ^ "L'annulation du procès de Gabriel Matzneff pour apologie de pédocriminalité confirmée en appel", LEFIGARO (in French), 7 October 2021, retrieved 26 November 2021