Farewell to All the Sorrows in the World

Francoise Sagan (picture), a renowned French female writer, well-known for her novel, “Bonjour Tristesse,” passed away on Friday (Korean time) in a hospital located in Honfleur, a port city in northern France. (Died at the age of 69).

The friends of the deceased said that Sagan fought with heart and lung disease for several years and recently checked into a hospital near her house, and died while receiving treatment.

Sagan was born in Cajarc, France in 1935 as the daughter of a prosperous Paris industrialist, attended and then dropped out of Sorbonne University. In 1954, at the age of 19, she became an international best-seller author for her full-length novel “Bonjour Tristesse.” In that same year, she received the National Book Critics Circle Award from her country.

In the book, “Bonjour Tristesse,” a story is told in a concise and delicate writing style about the struggles a 17-year old girl, bereaved of her mother, goes through as she opposes the remarriage of her young, attractive father. The book was translated into 22 different languages and sold over two million copies worldwide.

Since then, Sagan wrote novels such as “Un Certain Sourire” and “Aimez Vous Brahms,” and introduced plays such as “Chateau en Suede,” “Les Violons Parfois,” and “La Robe Mauve de Valentine.”

With the publication of an essay collection of “Bonjour Tristesse,” “Un chagrin de passage,” and “Et toute ma sympathie” translated into Korean, she also acquired a large fan base in Korea.

Sagan enjoyed speed, cigarettes, and a Bohemian lifestyle. In February of 1995, she was arrested for allegations of cocaine usage and was sentenced to prison. After the imprisonment, she stated, “As long as I do not disturb others, I have the right to destroy myself;” a quote still regarded as a proverb for advocates of liberalists.

In 2002, she also received an one-year prison term and one-year probation for tax evasion of her income of 830,000 euro (about 950,000,000 won), which included the 610,000 euro she received by introducing a business deal to the former President, Francois Mitterand, who was a great fan of her work.

Tumbling down from a genius writer to a tax dodger and having all of her property confiscated at the beginning of her tax evasion trial, Sagan spent her latter years penniless. She is survived by a husband from her remarriage and one son.

In a statement made by President Jacques Chirac of France shortly after Sagan passed away, he expressed his condolences, stating, “The deceased contributed to elevating the status of women. France has lost one of its most brilliant figures.”

Jin-Yeong Lee ecolee@donga.com