Jean-François Parot
Encyclopedia
Jean-François Parot is a French
diplomat and writer of historical mysteries, born in Paris
.
, his mother worked for Marcel Carné
and his grandfather was editor of Abel Gance
's Napoléon), Parot has a BA
and an MA
in history
and completed postgraduate studies
in anthropology
, specializing in Egyptian
mummification
techniques, the myths of the Pacific Islanders, and the Paris
of the eighteenth century. He is the author of a study Structures sociales des quartiers de Grève, Saint-Avoye et Saint-Antoine, 1780-1785 (published on microfiche by Hachette
, 1974).
Following his military service
, working in Saint-Louis, Senegal
, Parot was launched into diplomacy "by chance" on the advice of the consul general to whom he had been assigned. He was vice-consul in Kinshasa
(1974); Consul General of France in Ho Chi Minh City
(1982-87) and in Athens
; embassy counselor in Doha
, Khartoum
, Djibouti
, Ouagadougou
and Sofia
; Minister Counselor at Tunis
and deputy to the French ambassador; also advisor to the Minister of Industry and deputy director of personnel in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nantes
. Between 2002 and 2006 he was deputy director of the Directorate of Military Cooperation and Defense. He became Ambassador in Guinea-Bissau
in October 2006. As ambassador, he emphasises the role of food in diplomacy.
His books are published by Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès in Paris and in the Grands détectives series by Éditions 10/18. Most have also been published by Éditions France loisirs and le Grand livre du mois. His works have been translated into Italian, Spanish, English and Russian. They are the subject of a television adaptation on France 2
by former police inspector Hugues Pagan with Jérôme Robart in the title rôle.
, Brittany
, the illegitimate son of the Marquis
de Ranreuil, raised by Canon Le Floch. When the cycle of novels begins in 1761, he is working with the (real-life) Antoine de Sartine
, Lieutenant General of Police of Paris, and promoted to Commissaire of le Châtelet. Assisted by Inspector Pierre Bourdeau and others he goes on to solve crimes as well as pursue a complicated love life. He and many of his friends are gourmet
s and descriptions of food feature prominently in the novels.
1. L'Énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, 2000, ISBN 2-7096-2037-5. -- The Châtelet Apprentice, 2007, ISBN 978-1-9060-4006-2.
2. L'Homme au ventre de plomb, 2000, ISBN 2-7096-2038-3. -- The Man with the Lead Stomach, 2008, ISBN 978-1-9060-4007-9.
3. Le Fantôme de la rue Royale, 2001, ISBN 2-7096-2284-X. -- The Phantom of the Rue Royale, 2008, ISBN 978-1-9060-4011-6.
4. L'Affaire Nicolas Le Floch, 2002, ISBN 2-7096-2350-1. -- The Nicolas Le Floch Affair, 2009, ISBN 978-1-9060-4017-9.
5. Le Crime de l'hôtel Saint-Florentin, 2004, ISBN 2-7096-2514-8. -- The Saint-Florentin Murders, 2010, ISBN 978-1-9060-4024-6.
6. Le Sang des farines, 2005, ISBN 2-7096-2674-8.
7. Le Cadavre anglais, 2007, ISBN 978-2-7096-2867-9.
8. Le Noyé du grand canal, 2009, ISBN 978-2-7096-3036-8.
9. L'Honneur de Sartine, 2010, ISBN 978-2-7096-3426-7.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
diplomat and writer of historical mysteries, born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Background and professional career
Coming from a family closely connected with the cinema (as a child, he knew Jean GabinJean Gabin
-Biography:Born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, he grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, about 22 mi north of Paris. The son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly...
, his mother worked for Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné
-Biography:Born in Paris, France, the son of a cabinet maker whose wife died when their son was five, Carné began his career as a film critic, becoming editor of the weekly publication, Hebdo-Films, and working for Cinémagazine and Cinémonde between 1929 and 1933. In the same period he worked in...
and his grandfather was editor of Abel Gance
Abel Gance
Abel Gance was a French film director and producer, writer and actor. He is best known for three major silent films: J'accuse , La Roue , and the monumental Napoléon .-Early life:...
's Napoléon), Parot has a BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and an MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and completed postgraduate studies
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
in anthropology
Anthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
, specializing in Egyptian
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
mummification
Mummy
A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...
techniques, the myths of the Pacific Islanders, and the Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
of the eighteenth century. He is the author of a study Structures sociales des quartiers de Grève, Saint-Avoye et Saint-Antoine, 1780-1785 (published on microfiche by Hachette
Hachette (publishing)
Hachette Livre, , is a French publisher, the flagship imprint of Lagardère Publishing. It was founded in 1826 by Louis Hachette as a bookshop and publishing company. Hachette has its headquarters in the 15th arrondissement of Paris....
, 1974).
Following his military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
, working in Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, Senegal
Saint-Louis, or Ndar as it is called in Wolof, is the capital of Senegal's Saint-Louis Region. Located in the northwest of Senegal, near the mouth of the Senegal River, and 320 km north of Senegal's capital city Dakar, it has a population officially estimated at 176,000 in 2005. Saint-Louis...
, Parot was launched into diplomacy "by chance" on the advice of the consul general to whom he had been assigned. He was vice-consul in Kinshasa
Kinshasa
Kinshasa is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city is located on the Congo River....
(1974); Consul General of France in Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
(1982-87) and in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
; embassy counselor in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Khartoum
Khartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
, Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
, Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou
Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic center of the nation. It is also the country's largest city, with a population of 1,475,223 . The city's name is often shortened to Ouaga. The inhabitants are called ouagalais...
and Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
; Minister Counselor at Tunis
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
and deputy to the French ambassador; also advisor to the Minister of Industry and deputy director of personnel in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nantes
Nantes
Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....
. Between 2002 and 2006 he was deputy director of the Directorate of Military Cooperation and Defense. He became Ambassador in Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
in October 2006. As ambassador, he emphasises the role of food in diplomacy.
Writing
Parot is best known as the author of the Nicolas Le Floch crime series. Parot conceived the idea of his eighteenth-century police Commissaire when stationed in Sofia. The characteristic feature of his novels is the accuracy of the historical Parisian background blended with action and mystery.His books are published by Éditions Jean-Claude Lattès in Paris and in the Grands détectives series by Éditions 10/18. Most have also been published by Éditions France loisirs and le Grand livre du mois. His works have been translated into Italian, Spanish, English and Russian. They are the subject of a television adaptation on France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
by former police inspector Hugues Pagan with Jérôme Robart in the title rôle.
Fictional character
Nicolas Le Floch was born in GuérandeGuérande
The medieval town of Guérande is located in the département of Loire-Atlantique in western France.The inhabitants are so called Guérandais, for men, and Guérandaise, for women....
, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, the illegitimate son of the Marquis
Marquess
A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
de Ranreuil, raised by Canon Le Floch. When the cycle of novels begins in 1761, he is working with the (real-life) Antoine de Sartine
Antoine de Sartine
Antoine Raymond Jean Gualbert Gabriel de Sartine, comte d'Alby was a French statesman who served as Lieutenant General of Police of Paris during the reign of Louis XV and as Secretary of State for the Navy under King Louis XVI.-Origins:Antoine de Sartine was born in Barcelona in 1729, the son of...
, Lieutenant General of Police of Paris, and promoted to Commissaire of le Châtelet. Assisted by Inspector Pierre Bourdeau and others he goes on to solve crimes as well as pursue a complicated love life. He and many of his friends are gourmet
Gourmet
Gourmet is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses...
s and descriptions of food feature prominently in the novels.
Works
Les enquêtes de Nicolas Le Floch, commissaire au Châtelet (Listed here are the first French editions (Éd. J.-C. Lattès, Paris) and the first English editions (Gallic Books, London Gallic)1. L'Énigme des Blancs-Manteaux, 2000, ISBN 2-7096-2037-5. -- The Châtelet Apprentice, 2007, ISBN 978-1-9060-4006-2.
2. L'Homme au ventre de plomb, 2000, ISBN 2-7096-2038-3. -- The Man with the Lead Stomach, 2008, ISBN 978-1-9060-4007-9.
3. Le Fantôme de la rue Royale, 2001, ISBN 2-7096-2284-X. -- The Phantom of the Rue Royale, 2008, ISBN 978-1-9060-4011-6.
4. L'Affaire Nicolas Le Floch, 2002, ISBN 2-7096-2350-1. -- The Nicolas Le Floch Affair, 2009, ISBN 978-1-9060-4017-9.
5. Le Crime de l'hôtel Saint-Florentin, 2004, ISBN 2-7096-2514-8. -- The Saint-Florentin Murders, 2010, ISBN 978-1-9060-4024-6.
6. Le Sang des farines, 2005, ISBN 2-7096-2674-8.
7. Le Cadavre anglais, 2007, ISBN 978-2-7096-2867-9.
8. Le Noyé du grand canal, 2009, ISBN 978-2-7096-3036-8.
9. L'Honneur de Sartine, 2010, ISBN 978-2-7096-3426-7.