Irène Némirovsky

Irène Némirovsky (1903–1942) was a French novelist of Ukrainian Jewish origin, born in Kiev, who achieved early success with works like David Golder (1929) and Le Bal (1930), but was denied French citizenship and arrested by Vichy authorities in 1942, dying of typhus in Auschwitz at age 39. Council. Rediscovered posthumously, her unfinished masterpiece Suite française, depicting life under Nazi occupation, won the prestigious Prix Renaudot in 2004—the first posthumous award in its history—and became an international bestseller translated into 38 languages.