Beloved author, who wrote ‘City of Joy’, dies at 91
NEW DELHI: French author Dominique Lapierre, the author of best-selling books on India such as Freedom at Midnight and City of Joy who sold millions of copies and forged deep interpersonal ties to the country that awarded him its third-highest civilian honour, died in France. He was 91.
“At 91, he died of old age,” his wife Dominique Conchonlapierre told the French newspaper Var-matin on Sunday. She added that she is “at peace and serene since Dominique is no longer suffering”.
Born on July 30, 1931, in Chatelaillon, Lapierre sold about 50 million copies of the six books he wrote in collaboration with American writer Larry Collins - the most famous being Is Paris Burning?and City of Joy, an unvarnished, if somewhat controversial, portrayal of erstwhile Calcutta’s squalor and spirit that won global accolades and was made into an iconic movie.
“Deeply saddened by the demise of eminent French writer Dominique Lapierre, who was conferred India’s Padma Bhushan for his tireless work for the underprivileged. His vision of Kolkata as “The City of Joy” will remain etched forever in our hearts,” tweeted Emmanuel Lenain, France’s ambassador to India.
Lapierre’s Is Paris Burning? was published in 1965 and chronicled the events leading up to August 1944, when Nazi Germany surrendered control of the French capital, and was adapted for the silver screen by Francis Ford Coppola and Gore Vidal.
His 1975 book Freedom at Midnight, centred on the Indian independence movement, was also successful. But it was his 1985 novel City of Joy that chronicled the hardships of a rickshaw puller in erstwhile Calcutta as well as stolen moments of levity that catapulted him to cult status in India. A movie based on it was released in 1992, starring Patrick Swayze and directed by Roland Joffe.
“It was a song of love for India, the place where I have been coming very regularly…it has been an emotional journey for me where I have got a lot of love and support from the people,” he said in a 2013 interview.
He donated the bulk of his royalties from City of Joy to support humanitarian projects in India. His books were translated into 30 languages and sold 50 million copies.
Lapierre, who was conferred the Padma Bhushan in 2008, founded a humanitarian association with his wife entitled City of Joy Foundation, rescuing children suffering from leprosy in the slums of Kolkata.
At Asha Bhavan, a centre set up for children in Kolkata with donations from the author, many mourned his demise.
“As and when he visited India, Lapierre would always find time to spend with children of the schools and destitute homes that he helped set up,” said John Mary Barui, the director of the institution.