French writer belonging to the literary group called the Hussards, and also a sports columnist in L’Équipe. Blondin also wrote under the name Tenorio.
Blondin was the son of a poet, Germaine Blondin, whose name he took, and of a printer’s proof-reader. He gained a literary degree at the Sorbonne after studying at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand in Paris and the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen. He was sent to Germany in 1942 for compulsory war work during the German occupation of World War II. The experience inspired his first novel, L’Europe Buissonnière, which appeared in 1949. It won the Prix des Deux-Magots, named after a literary café in Paris and brought him the friendship of authors such as Marcel Aymé and Roger Nimier and the philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre. In 1953, Bernard Frank named the group les Hussards, a title which stuck. His right-wing leanings did not prevent a friendship with the socialist François Mitterrand, for whom Blondin came to vote.
His next novels, Les Enfants du bon Dieu and L’Humeur Vagabonde confirmed a distinctive style which critics placed between Stendhal and Jules Renard. He was known for turns of phrase such as “After the second world war, the trains started moving again. I profited from that by leaving my wife and children” and “I have stayed very thin, and so have my novels.” Blondin won the 1977 Prix Goncourt de la Nouvelle for Quat’saisons.
Blondin wrote press columns supporting the right in politics. He was a monarchist and wrote for monarchist publications such as Aspects de la France, La Nation Française and Rivarol. He also wrote sports features for L’Équipe, for which he covered 27 editions of the Tour de France and seven Olympic Games.
Blondin was a bon-vivant known for generous drinking in the Parisian district of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, playing at bull-fighting with passing cars and collecting numerous arrests for drunkenness. He chronicled this life in his autobiographical romance, Monsieur Jadis ou L’École du Soir. He was frequently pursued for unpaid tax.
A literary prize, for the best sports article, is awarded in his name. Blondin died on 7 June 1991 in Paris.
Link to Wikipedia biography