- Michel Houellebecq is a notable French novelist, actor, singer, and filmmaker.
- Houellebecq rose to notoriety as a novelist while his first book was a biographical study on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.
- He started his adventure as a novelist in 1994.
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Who is Michel Houellebecq?
Michel Houellebecq is a notable French novelist, actor, singer, and filmmaker. Houellebecq rose to notoriety as a novelist while his first book was a biographical study on the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. He started his adventure as a novelist in 1994. His second work, Atomised published in 1998 gave him international prominence while it dragged him into several issues as well.
The famed writer has garnered various distinctions as an author in his more than three-decades-long journey. Houellebecq maintains his personal life under the media radar despite living the life of a public personality for decades. So, today, we’re studying some undiscovered truths of Houellebecq’s life.
Houellebecq’s Mother Is A Doctor
Houellebecq was born Michel Thomas to their mother Lucie Ceccaldi and their father, Rene Thomas.
His mother is a doctor born in Algeria and is of Corsican origin
while his father is a ski instructor and mountain guide.
Talking about his birthday, Michel was born on 26 February, nevertheless,
there’s confusion about his birth year between 1956 and 1958.
Many internet tabloids have suggested Houellebecq was born in 1956 on the French island of Reunion.
Michel Lived With their Maternal Grandmother In Algeria
Michel Houellebecq moved on to live with his maternal grandmother in Algeria.
He lived there from when he was five months old till he turned five.
Sources said, aged six, Michel’s parents transferred him to live with his paternal grandparents in France.
Meanwhile, his mother, Lucie left to live a hippy lifestyle in Brazil with her then-boyfriend.
Michel Took His Grandmother’s Maiden Name
Michel Houellebecq spent most of his childhood days with his paternal grandmother in France.
After he started his career as a novelist, Michel used his grandmother’s maiden name,
Houellebecq as his pen name.
Houellebecq’s Education
Houellebecq took formal education while living with his grandmother in France.
He studied at Meaux High School followed by Lycee Chaptal in Paris.
Later, Houellebecq attended the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon in 1975.
He completed his degree in 1980.
Michel Houellebecq Is Married Three Times
Houellebecq is a successful author who is considered one of the finest authors in the world.
But, he failed to repeat the success in his personal life as he has been
through a pair of unsuccessful marriages walking in his mid-60s.
He married his first wife (unidentified) in the early ’80s after he completed his graduation.
The married couple soon gave birth to a kid, and a son, nevertheless,
they couldn’t stay married for long and got divorced a couple of years later.
Houellebecq became depressed following his divorce and took a while to move forward.
In 1998, Houellebecq married his second wife, Marie Pierre Gauthier.
The couple lived a lovely conjugal life of more than a decade before they parted in 2010.
The ex-husband-and-wife, though, isn’t known to have children together.
As of now, Houellebecq is married to Qianyun Lysis Li. He tied the knot with his third wife,
a Chinese woman, in September 2018. In fact, Li is 34 years his junior and was a student of his work.
He Garnered International Fame From Atomised
Houellebecq’s debut novel, Whatever was published in 1994 and did good business.
But, the French novelist achieved international popularity after he published his second novel, Atomised.
The novel was published in 1998 in the French translation titled Les Particules élémentaires.
The novel was translated and published in the UK as Atomised whilst it was dubbed The Elementary Particles in the USA.
It was a breakthrough in his career, bringing him national and international acclaim.
Meanwhile, the work also brought Houellebecq into conflict.
Houellebecq was attacked for the complicated blend of brutally honest societal analysis and erotic visuals.
The novel portrays the narrative of two half-brothers’ mental fights against their positions in modern society.
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Michel Houellebecq Predicted Future Of His Novel, Atomised
A number of years before Houellebecq published his second novel,
Atomised, he kind of prophesied the impact of it on his career.
During an interview with Andrew Hussey in 1996,
when he had been working on the novel, he commented “It will either destroy me or make me famous.”
The book undoubtedly made Houellebecq famous as well as brought some controversy along with it.
Houellebecq won the 1998 Prix Novembre for the novel.
In 2002, Houellebecq also won the International Dublin Literary Award.
He Has Acted In Films
Besides his work as an author, Houellebecq has also acted in a few films.
His first work as an actor came in 2014 when he starred as himself in The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq.
The same year, Michel acted in Near Death Experience.
Michel’s other work on films includes Saint-Amour in 2016,
To Stay Alive: A Method in 2016, and Thalasso in 2019.
