Joseph Joffo
Joseph Joffo (2 April 1931 – 6 December 2018) was a French author. A noted autobiographer, Joffo was perhaps best known for his memoir Un sac de billes (A Bag of Marbles), which has been translated into eighteen languages. Married to Brigitte Joffo and had 3 children, Alexandra, Boris, and Franck
Joseph Joffo

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- Name
- Joseph Joffo
- Born
- 2 April 1931
- Birthplace
- Paris, France
- Died
- 6 December 2018
- Place of death
- Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Alpes-Maritimes, France
- Occupation
- Autobiographer, novelist
- Nationality
- France
- Fields
- creative and professional writing · prose · autobiography
- Known for
- A Bag of Marbles
- Honours
- Broquette-Gonin prize · prix RTL grand public
- Languages
- French
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Documentary summary
Joseph Joffo (2 April 1931 – 6 December 2018) was a French author. A noted autobiographer, Joffo was perhaps best known for his memoir Un sac de billes (A Bag of Marbles), which has been translated into eighteen languages. Married to Brigitte Joffo and had 3 children, Alexandra, Boris, and Franck
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
Joseph Joffo (1931–2018) was an actor, businessperson and novelist, among other activities, of French nationality. The actor was born in 18th arrondissement of Paris and died in Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Activity centred on autobiography, creative and professional writing and prose.
Among the works is A Bag of Marbles. Languages used include French. Honours include Broquette-Gonin prize and prix RTL grand public.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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- Identity
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- Independent source families
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Authority files
wikidata · Q740374 · wikipedia · Joseph Joffo
In this article
Biography
Biography
The recorded working language is French. The field of work recorded is creative and professional writing, prose and autobiography. Works named in the authority record are A Bag of Marbles. Distinctions recorded are Broquette-Gonin prize and prix RTL grand public.

Joseph Joffo en séance de dédicace à "La Comédie du livre" de Montpellier, 23 mai 2009
Dinkley
Joseph Joffo at the Salon du Livre 2011 in Geneva
Rama · Photograph by Rama, Wikimedia Commons, Cc-by-sa-2.0-fr
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Joseph Joffo • Born — 2 April 1931 • Birthplace — Paris, France • Died — 6 December 2018 • Place of death — Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Alpes-Maritimes, France • Years Active — 1970 – 2017 • Notable Works — A Bag of Marbles (1973) • Genres — Autobiographical • Occupation — Autobiographer, novelist
Early life
Early life
Joffo was born in Paris in the 18th arrondissement. He left school at 14 with a certificat d'études (a former school leaving certificate, taken at the end of primary education) in his pocket and joined his brothers in the family's barber shop.
A Bag of Marbles
A Bag of Marbles
His memoir Un sac de billes (A Bag of Marbles), written as a novel, tells the story of Joffo as a young Jewish boy during the Holocaust. When Joffo was ten, his father gave him and his brother five thousand francs each and instructions to flee Nazi-occupied Paris by foot, train and bus, and join their brothers Henri and Albert in Menton on the Mediterranean coast, where they would be safe in then-unoccupied Southern France. The book "A Bag of Marbles" tells of this journey. • Illustration — Joffo in 2012 Joffo and his twelve-year-old brother Maurice travel south across France by themselves. They are attempting to escape from the grasp of Hitler's SS men as the Nazis infiltrate France. They travel through northern France to the demilitarised zone in the south. The boys then spend four blissfully safe months in Menton on the border of France and Italy with their older brothers Henri and Albert, before having to leave the town for Nice where their parents are waiting. Joffo returns to the city of Paris, shortly after its liberation is announced, in a crowded train. Maurice returns in greater style by road and also takes enough cheese with him to sell for a large profit. They are reunited with their family in the barbershop - although sadly not with their father, who perished in a concentration camp before the end of the war.
Other works
Other works
Joffo also wrote Anna et son orchestre (Anna and Her Orchestra), which tells the story of Joseph's mother from the time she was 11 years old to the time she met Joseph Joffo's father in Paris. His novel Baby-foot, published in 1977, follows on from Un sac de billes and describes his life in Paris following World War II and his discovery of American values. La Vieille dame de Djerba, published in 1984, was written after Joffo met a woman called Liza at a synagogue in Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia. He was amazed to discover, after assuming she was a beggar and offering her money, that she knew the names of his mother and grandmother.
Death
Death
Joffo died on 6 December 2018 at a hospital in Saint-Laurent-du-Var, Alpes-Maritimes from a short-illness at the age of 87.
Other media
Other media
On 10 December 1975, Un sac de billes premiered in France as a motion picture. The film was also released internationally under the title A Bag of Marbles. A second film of Un Sac de Billes was released in 2017. During filming in Nice, the hanging of a Nazi flag on the Palais des Rois Sardes caused a frenzy between the local population and the crew.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1931
Joseph Joffo born at 18th arrondissement of Paris.
2018
Joseph Joffo died at Saint-Laurent-du-Var.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
18th arrondissement of Paris.
Birth place
Saint-Laurent-du-Var.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Joseph Joffo”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q740374: Joseph Joffo
Unverified · Wikidata
Literature
Literature
Joseph JOFFO. — UN SAC DE BILLES. —— J.C. French Holocaust Literature: A Study of the Work of Joseph Joffo on World War Two, Lingua Litteratia Journal, 2023.
A Bag of Marbles by Joseph Joffo (review), Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 2013
Un sac de billes de Joseph Joffo: la voie de l’adaptation théâtrale pour transmettre son histoire, Skenegraphie, 2023
Le cas de six romans: Joseph Joffo: un sac de billes et simon et l'enfant, Judith Kerr: when hitler stole pink rabbit et bombs on aunt dainty, Hans Peter Richter: damals war es friedrich et wir waren dabei
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Joffo, Joseph. A Bag of Marbles. University of Chicago Press. 2000. 978-0-226-40069-3.
- 2.dhnet.be. Joseph Joffo, l'auteur d'"Un sac de billes", est décédé à l'âge de 87 ans. December 6, 2018.
- 3.Le Parisien. VIDEO. Joseph Joffo : " Après 40 ans de métier, maintenant je sais écrire ". March 2, 2017.
- 4.Huffington Post. Joseph Joffo, l'auteur d'"Un sac de billes", est mort. 6 December 2018.
- 5.Nazi flag surprises in French city… but it's only a movie. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Agence France-Presse. 2015-09-30.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedauthority record
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
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