Gerard de Villiers: biography, creativity, reviews

French writer and journalist Gerard de Villiers is well known to the Russian reader. World fame brought him action-packed novels, the main character of which is an Austrian aristocrat, freelance working for American intelligence. At home, this hero was nicknamed "the French James Bond."

Childhood and youth

Gerard de Villiers was born in Paris on December 8, 1929. His father is the famous French playwright Jacques Boulard de Combs. In the literature he was known under the pseudonyms Jacques Deval and Adam de Villiers, creating plays of various problems.

On the maternal side, Gerard de Villiers comes from a family of French bourgeois, who are of aristocratic origin. Its roots are from the island of Reunion. This is the overseas region of France, located in the Indian Ocean.

Education Gerard de Villiers received in the French capital, the Institute of Political Studies. This university is considered the forge of the political and diplomatic elite of France. Also de Villiers graduated from the Higher School of Journalism, receiving the most comprehensive education.

At the front

In the mid-50's Gerard de Villiers as an officer goes to the Algerian war. The war for the independence of this African state lasted from 1954 to 1962. From the French side, about 470 thousand military personnel took part in it. De Villiers was already actively engaged in journalism at the front, returning from the war, worked in well-known French publications - Minuta, Rivarol, Paris Press and many others.

As correspondent traveled the whole world. In 1965, he concentrated on literary activity - he began writing spy novels, extremely popular at the time.

French James Bond

The main character of the most famous series of works by de Villiers is Malko Linge. This is an Austrian prince who, outside the state, works for the American special services, in particular the CIA.

Thanks to this character the world glory was given to Gerard de Villiers. SAS - so began to be called a series of these spyware. The first book was published in 1965 under the name "CAC in Istanbul". In the same year, on the wave of success, de Villiers released several more books.

Researchers refer these works to the tabloid literature. Among the main advantages are the unusually accurate descriptions, as well as the forecasting of many world political events. The author succeeded in doing this because of his profile education at the Institute for Political Studies.

Political forecast

Gerard de Villiers, whose books in the 60s and 70s were at variance, as mentioned above, often became a visionary of many political events.

In 1980, de Villiers released the novel "The Assassination in Abu Dhabi," which describes in detail the attempt on Anwar Sadat, who was in charge of Egypt at that time. Exactly one year later the events described in the novel come true - on October 6, 1981 during the military parade, arranged in honor of the Arab-Israeli war. At the end of the parade, one of his participants threw a grenade toward the podium. But it broke, not reaching the goal. Immediately, several paratroopers opened fire on the government rostrum with automatic weapons. Sadat jumped from the spot and immediately received bullets in the neck and chest.

In 1986, de Villiers released the novel "Kill Gandhi." In it, he predicts the events of 1991, when the ex-Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi died as a result of the assassination attempt. The attempt took place during the election campaign near the city of Madras.

Russian trace

About Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union wrote several novels by Gerard de Villiers. CAC series belongs to the work "Bangkok trap", based on the biography of the famous Russian businessman, accused of arms trafficking, Victor Bout. Later in Hollywood, there was a film about Bout, "The Armory Baron."

In 2007, another book was published - Polonium-210, or how Vladimir Putin ordered the murder of Alexander Litvinenko. "

In 2004, the book "Kill Yushchenko" was published, dedicated to the Orange Revolution in Ukraine of the same year. Critics evaluate it as a tabloid-erotic political detective. This is one of the most striking novels that Gerard de Villiers wrote. CAC, a series of books about spies, brought him unprecedented circulations. To date, about 100 million copies have been published. This makes this series of books one of the most sold in the history of book publishing and one of the longest series of fiction written by one author. After all, his hero de Villiers did not change 44 years, until his death.

The actions of this novel take place in Kiev. The protagonist of all de Villiers works, Prince Linge, comes to the Ukrainian capital under the guise of an OSCE observer. On a visit, he arrives on the eve of the second round of presidential elections in Ukraine to prevent poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko. In the novel dedicated to the Orange Revolution in Kiev, the protagonist Prince Linge protects the President from the attempt. The first attempt at murder happens in the country house of the deputy chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine.

Behind the Linga hunts a separate killer who makes an attempt to finish it off by drowning in a cistern with vodka. The novel is permeated with irony and sarcasm. So, Linge straightens with her rancors in the most unexpected places, for example in a sauna or a church.

The final scene takes place at the headquarters of the Our Ukraine party. Here Yushchenko's supporters celebrate the victory, which, according to the election commission, is gaining more than 70 percent of the vote. However, the staff of the US embassy inform Ling that this is just a trick. In fact, the results of the election are still unknown. An experienced prince feels uneasy and at the last moment decides who is the next killer of the president. He intercepts a girl dressed in all the orange, who planned to crack down on the president with a kiss. Her lips were smeared with poisoned lipstick.

The novel ends with the triumph of democracy, and the Russian special services, as often happens in de Villiers' novels, suffer another fiasco.

Reviews of the writer

In reviews about the work of Gerard de Villiers, readers note that the main drawback is that in Russia it is published little. And those works that are published in Russian, do not fully convey the fullness of his style and grace.

At first glance, it may seem to many that his novels are too brutal and sugary. However, in reality it is a very tough literature that quickly debunks myths about people and peoples. And one of the main advantages of the author, as the readers note, is his inexhaustible imagination.

Famous screen versions

Exciting subjects and a description of current world political events in de Villiers' novels evoke the desire to screen these works by many directors.

A series of spy novels are planned to be released on the screens of Hollywood masters. And sometimes on the big screen there are not films on the books of Gerard de Villiers, but parodies on them. So, in 2006 in France there was a film "Spy escapades" directed by Vincent de Bruce. The main roles in it were performed by Christian Clavier, Daniel Otoy and Jennifer Saunders.

The protagonist of this film is an aristocrat with high moral principles - Francois de La Consche. Only, unlike the eternally young Linge de Villiers, this hero is already quite elderly. At the same time, he is going to start serving his homeland again. Its task is to help turn the operation on the return of a secret chip, the cost of which is estimated at $ 25 million. The uniqueness of the chip is that, having got into the human body, it deprives any painful sensations for 12 hours. That is why the military leaders of most countries of the world want to get hold of it, regularly unleashing armed conflicts.

Death of the writer

Writing about 200 novels about Prince Linge, Gerard de Villiers died on the night of November 1, 2013. It turned out that the prose writer fought for many years with an oncological disease - pancreatic cancer.

About his death, the public informed the lawyer de Villiers. Wife of the writer - Christina - noted that in the last days of his life he was extremely weak, but he remained conscious. It was very important for him to leave this world with a bright head.