Origins & Early Life

Georges Perec (French: [ʒɔʁʒ peʁɛk]; 7 March 1936 – 3 March 1982) was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist, and essayist. He was a member of the Oulipo group. His father died as a soldier early in the Second World War and his mother was killed in the Holocaust. Many of his works deal with absence, loss, and identity, often through word play.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Born in a working-class district of Paris, Perec was the only son of Icek Judko and Cyrla (Schulewicz) Peretz, Polish Jews who had emigrated to France in the 1920s. He was a distant relative of the Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz. Perec's father, who enlisted in the French Army during World War II, died in 1940 from untreated gunfire or shrapnel wounds, and his mother was killed in the Holocaust, probably in Auschwitz sometime after 1943. Perec was taken into the care of his paternal aunt and uncle in 1942, and in 1945, he was formally adopted by them. Perec started writing reviews and essays for La Nouvelle Revue française and Les Lettres nouvelles, prominent literary publications, while studying history and sociology at the Sorbonne.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

In 1958/59 Perec served in the French army as a paratrooper (XVIIIe Régiment...

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

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• Alexander Graham Bell — Shared historical date (03-03 · Born) (1847): Pioneering inventor credited with patenting the first practical telephone.
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• 1936 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1936
• March 7 (03-07) On This Day — Historical birthdays and events on March 7
• 1982 Historical Timeline & Archive — Explore world events and figures from 1982
• March 3 (03-03) On This Day — Historical events and memorials on March 3