Boualem Sansal

Algerian-French novelist and essayist · age 81

Boualem Sansal photo

life in chapters

7 milestones from birth to now, with Boualem's age at every one.

1940s

  1. Birth

    Born October 15, 1944

1990s

  1. age ~55 Release

    Publishes debut novel 'Le Serment des barbares'

    author

    His first novel wins the Prix du Premier Roman and launches his literary career.

2010s

  1. age 67 Award

    Receives the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade

    laureate

    Sansal is awarded the 2011 Peace Prize at a ceremony in Frankfurt's Church of St. Paul.

  2. age ~71 Award

    Wins the Grand Prix du roman de l'Academie francaise for '2084'

    winner

    His dystopian novel '2084: La fin du monde' earns the French Academy's top novel prize.

2020s

  1. age 80 Legal

    Arrested in Algiers on national-security charges

    defendant

    Sansal is detained after an interview in which he questioned Algeria's colonial-era borders.

  2. age 80 Legal

    Sentenced to five years in prison

    defendant

    A court near Algiers convicts him of undermining national unity and imposes a five-year term and a fine.

  3. age 81 Legal

    Pardoned and released after German appeal

    pardoned

    President Abdelmadjid Tebboune pardons Sansal following a clemency request from Germany, and he is transferred to Germany for medical care.

age 81 now

Still going