About the Author
Marcel Pagnol, born in Aubagne near Marseille in 1895 to a primary school teacher and a seamstress, studied literature in Aix-en-Provence and became one of France's most renowned writers and directors. He initially wanted to become an English teacher, but the success of his early plays led him to pursue a career as a playwright. He then turned to filmmaking and became the first filmmaker to be inducted into the Académie française in 1946. It was not until he was sixty that he began to write down his childhood story, which brought him worldwide fame: "A Childhood in Provence" comprises the two world-famous classics "My Father's Glory" (1957) and "My Mother's Castle" (1958). He died in Paris in 1974 and was buried with his family in Marseille.