About the Author
Marcel Pagnol, born in 1895 in Aubagne near Marseille to a primary school teacher and a seamstress, studied literature in Aix-en-Provence and became one of France's most famous 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, in 1946, became the first filmmaker to be elected to the Académie française. It was not until he was sixty that he began writing his childhood memoirs, which brought him worldwide fame: "A Childhood in Provence" includes the two world-famous classics "Marcel" (1957) and "Marcel and Isabelle" (1958). He died in Paris in 1974 and was buried with his family in Marseille.