Jeanne Champion

Jeanne Champion (born 25 June 1931, near Lons-le-Saunier) is a French painter and historical novelist.

Jeanne Champion, born in a peasant environment, is largely self-taught. An artist-painter since 1956, she has produced many works in her two fields of activity. In painting, often unsatisfied, she destroyed many of her creations but she left some 200 paintings and a good number of engravings.

A writer since 1961, Champion was awarded the Prix Goncourt de la biographie in 1984 for her fictionalized biography of Suzanne Valadon, translated into several languages.

She was also given the Grand Prix du roman de la Société des gens de lettres (1980) for her novel Les frères Montaurian, the Prix de l'Événement du jeudi (1986) for le Bunker and the Prix des écrivains croyants (1990) for her documentary book Mémoires en exil.

In 1982, she was awarded the Prix Alice-Louis Bartoux of the Académie française.

She was elevated to the rank of officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2001.

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