Jules Maigret

"Maigret" redirects here. For other uses, see Maigret (disambiguation).

Jules Maigret
Maigret statue by Pieter d'Hont in Delfzijl, Netherlands. The unveiling was made by Simenon himself on 3 September 1966, at the place where he had written the first Maigret novel, and was attended by Maigret actors from various countries.[1][2]
First appearanceThe Strange Case of Peter the Lett (1931)
Last appearanceMaigret and Monsieur Charles (1972)
Created byGeorges Simenon
Portrayed by
Numerous
In-universe information
OccupationDetective Chief Superintendent
Family
  • Evariste Maigret (father)
  • Hernance Maigret (mother)
Spouse
Louise Léonard
​
(m. 1912)​
NationalityFrench

Jules Maigret (French: [ʒyl mɛɡʁɛ]), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a commissaire ("commissioner") of the Paris Brigade Criminelle (Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres), created by writer Georges Simenon. The character's full name is Jules Amédée François Maigret.[3]

Between 1931 and 1972, 75 novels[3] and 28 short stories[4] about Maigret were published, starting with Pietr-le-Letton ("The Strange Case of Peter the Lett") and concluding with Maigret et Monsieur Charles ("Maigret and Monsieur Charles"). With the creation of Maigret, Simenon renewed the detective novel genre. The novels and stories have been translated into more than 50 languages.[4]

The Maigret stories have also received numerous film, television and radio adaptations. Penguin Books published new translations of 75 books in the series over as many months;[3] the project was begun in November 2013 by translators David Bellos, Anthea Bell, and Ros Schwartz.[5]

  1. ^ Ousby, Ian (1997). Guilty Parties: A Mystery Lover's Companion. Thames & Hudson. pp. 132–134. ISBN 0-500-27978-0.
  2. ^ "The Maigret Statue at Delfzijl". Trussel.com. Archived from the original on 12 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Sansom, Ian (20 November 2013). "The quiet commissaire: the extraordinary ordinariness of Maigret". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b Wenger, Murielle; Trusel, Stephen (2017). Maigret's World: A Reader's Companion to Simenon's Famous Detective. McFarland & Company. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1476669779.
  5. ^ "Penguin to publish 75 Maigret novels". Thebookseller.com. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 22 December 2018.