Albert Cossery

Albert Cossery

Writes in French

Born in Cairo in 1913, Albert Cossery is one of the most important Egyptian francophone writers along with Andrée Chédid, Edmond Jabès among others. Although he settled permanently in Paris since 1945, Cossery’s literary universe is entirely dedicated to Egypt. Before becoming a Parisian literary figure, frequenting the existentialist milieu while keeping his independence and his dandy lifestyle, he had studied in Egypt in a Christian school then in the Cairo French high school. In his youth, he was close to Egyptian surrealists such as Georges Henein.

From his first novel Les oubliés de Dieu (1941) to Les couleurs de l’infamie, published in 1999, His seven novels are set in the poor districts of Egypt. His heroes are for the most part from the lower classes or abandon their possessions to adopt a life of “proud beggars”. Cossery celebrated the joy of living on the margins of society, far from the obligations of modern life and the norms of the bourgeoisie. “Mendiants et orgueilleux” (Proud Beggars), published in 1955, is his most celebrated novel and has been the subject of several films and comic book adaptations. Cossery died in 2004, at the age of 94, in a Parisian hotel room where he had spent his last 60 years.