Joseph Kessel was born in a jewish lithuanian family in 1898. The family fled the pogroms and went to Argentina were Joseph was born. In 1908, after a few years in Russia they settled in Nice, 3 rue Auber. Joseph studied in the lycée Masséna high school before going to Paris.
Kessel became a writer with many best sellers. The Lion, Mermoz, The Army of the Shadows, The Horsemen. Many of his books were adapted to become movies.
During WWI he served as an airman. During WWII he joined the Resistance and then the Free French Air Force in London where Charles de Gaulle, head of the Free French, considered him more useful than in the occupied territories.
With his nephew, Maurice Druon, he wrote the lyrics of the anthem of the Resistance, the "Chant des Partisans" (musique d'Anna Marly)
As a journalist, he travelled all over the world to make reports. Afghanistan, Africa, China, America... In 1962 he was elected in the Académie Française . He died in 1979.
Ses livres.