Biography
Lucien Bodard (January 9, 1914 – March 2, 1998) was a French journalist and author specializing in Asian affairs.
Born in Chongqing, central China, to Albert Bodard, the French consul stationed in various Chinese cities including Chongqing, Chengdu, Kunming, and Shanghai, Lucien grew up fluent in Mandarin. His early years were spent in Kunming and Shanghai as his father took up different posts. Before reaching adolescence, his mother sent him back to France for education in a reputable school.
Bodard's deep understanding of Asian cultures, particularly Chinese and Vietnamese, provided him with a distinctive viewpoint on the major events that shaped Asia in the early twentieth century. Beginning his journalism career in 1944, he was dispatched to the Far East to report on issues such as the Southeast Asian war, the emergence of communist China, and the First Indochina War. Over time, he gained renown as one of France’s leading war correspondents during the First Indochina War and the early stages of the American involvement in Vietnam, conflicts he later recounted in several books.
In the 1970s, Bodard turned to novel writing, drawing heavily on his Asian experiences and childhood memories in China. His elaborate, richly detailed, and occasionally humorous style earned him widespread acclaim and multiple French literary awards, including the Prix Interallié for "Monsieur le consul," a work about his father’s tenure as French Consul in Chengdu, and the Prix Goncourt for "Anne Marie," which portrayed his mother’s life and character. His final book, "Le chien de Mao" ("Mao's Dog"), focused on Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong’s third wife, and was published in 1998, the year of his passing.
Bodard is frequently compared to fellow prominent 20th-century French journalists and novelists Albert Londres and Joseph Kessel.
