Marguerite Duras

Marguerite Duras was a French writer and filmmaker.

A former member of the French Communist Party, Duras wrote for nearly 40 years before publishing the work she is perhaps best known for, L'Amant ("The Lover") in 1984. The reportedly autobiographical book, which depicted the interracial romance between a young French girl and a Chinese man, earned Duras the 1984 Prix Goncourt.

Her previous works, including Moderato Cantabile and Le Ravissement de Lol V. Stein, had already established her as a prominent writer. She also wrote the 1959 French film Hiroshima Mon Amour, often cited as one of the first examples of the French New Wave.

• 1959 - Hiroshima Mon Amour (screenwriter)
• 1967 - The Sea Wall
• 1977 - Moderato Cantabile
• 1984 - L'Amant
• 1992 - Eden Cinema
• 1991 - The North China Lover

• 1914: Born on April 4 in Gia-Dinh, French Indochina (modern Vietnam)

• 1931: Moves to Paris, France, gets a degree in political sciences at the Sorbonne

• 1943: Changes her surname to Duras

• 1943: Publishes her first novel, Les Impudents

• 1950: Publishes The Sea Wall, which establishes her reputation as a writer

• 1960: Writes screenplay for Hiroshima mon Amour

• 1966: Directs her first film, La Musica

• 1975: Wins the grand prize of France's Cinema Academy for India Song

• 1984: Publishes The Lover, which becomes an international best-seller

• 1984: Receives the prestigious Prix Goncourt for The Lover

• 1988: Falls into a coma for five months and is not expected to live

• 1990: Publishes the novel Summer Rain

• 1995: Publishes her last book, No More

• 1996: Dies on March 3 in Paris, France

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups

• 1959: Hiroshima mon Amour

• 1966: 10:30 PM Summer

• 1967: The Sailor from Gibraltar

• 1969: Destroy, She Said

• 1974: Woman of the Ganges

• 1975: India Song

• 1977: The Truck

• 1992: L'Amant