French writer and philosopher. In the 1970s he achieved some renown, winning the Prix Medicis in 1973 for his novel Paysage de Fantaisie. Duvert’s writings are notable both for their style and core themes: the celebration and defence of pedophilia, and criticism of modern child-rearing. Sexual liberation and the intellectual establishment’s relatively benign attitude towards child sexuality in the 1970s enabled Duvert to achieve a respected public voice.
Duvert achieved public recognition in 1973 with his novel Paysage de fantaisie (Strange Landscape), which won the Prix Medicis, and which was greeted warmly by critics. For Claude Mauriac the book revealed “gifts and art that the word talent is not enough to express”. In 1974, Duvert expounded his ideology at length in Le Bon Sexe Illustré (Good Sex Illustrated) in which he sharply criticised sex education and the modern western family. Critics praised its humor and his ability to observe the false pretenses of bourgeois society. With his literary prize money Duvert moved to Morocco, an experience which resulted in his next novel Journal D’un Innocent, (Journal Of An Innocent) published in 1976. Disillusioned by its society, he moved to Thore la Rochette, before settling in Tours. His next novel Quand Mourut Jonathan (When Jonathan Died), published in 1978, was inspired by an earlier vacation with a neglected boy.
In the 1980s, Duvert published L’enfant au masculin (1980), in which he further expounded his sexual philosophy; a novel Un Anneau d’Argent à l’Oreille; and a book of aphorisms Abécédaire Malveillant: unlike his earlier writings, their critical reception was mostly indifferent or poor. By the late 1980s, Duvert was unable to pay the rent on his apartment. With the social mood towards pedophilia hardening in the wake of several abuse scandals, he felt the world had turned against him. He withdrew to his mother’s house in Loir-et-Cher, and became a total recluse. Duvert published nothing further, and was largely forgotten. However, in 2005, his novel L’Île Atlantique, which had first appeared in 1979, was adapted for television by Gerard Mordillat.
Tony Duvert’s body was discovered at his home in August 2008, several weeks after his death, in a state of decomposition. His death briefly raised his media profile in France again; obituaries noting the quality of his writing, but also reflecting upon the change in official attitudes to child sexuality.
A biography, Tony Duvert. L’Enfant Silencieux. by Gilles Sebhan was published in 2010.
Link to Wikipedia biography