Muriel Barbery
Muriel Barbery (born 28 May 1969) is a French novelist and philosophy teacher. Her 2006 novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog quickly sold more than a million copies in several countries.
Also recorded as Müriel Barberi
Muriel Barbery

Elena Torre from Viareggio, Italia · Muriel Barbery · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Born
- 1969. · Casablanca.
- Nationality
- France.
- Occupation
- novelist, writer and poet.
- Education
- Lycée Lakanal and École Normale Supérieure.
- Honours
- prix des Libraires and Georges Brassens Prize.
- Languages
- French.
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Documentary summary
Muriel Barbery (born 28 May 1969) is a French novelist and philosophy teacher. Her 2006 novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog quickly sold more than a million copies in several countries.
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Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
wikidata · Q235731 · wikipedia · Muriel Barbery
In this article
Biography
Biography
Muriel Barbery studied at Lycée Lakanal and École Normale Supérieure. The recorded working language is French. Places of work recorded in the authority are Paris. Employment is recorded with University of Burgundy Europe and Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maîtres. Distinctions recorded are prix des Libraires and Georges Brassens Prize.
Barbery was born in Casablanca, Morocco, but she and her parents moved when she was two months old. She studied at the Lycée Lakanal, entered the École Normale Supérieure de Fontenay-Saint-Cloud in 1990 and obtained her agrégation in philosophy in 1993. She then taught philosophy at the Université de Bourgogne, in a lycée, and at the Saint-Lô IUFM (teacher training college). After she quit her job, she lived in 2008–2009 in Japan. She currently lives in Europe. Her novel L'Élégance du hérisson (translated by Alison Anderson as The Elegance of the Hedgehog) topped the French bestseller lists for 30 consecutive weeks and was reprinted 50 times, selling over a million copies by May 2008. It has also been a bestseller in Italy, Germany, Spain, South Korea, and in many other countries. The story concerns the inhabitants of a small upper-class Paris apartment block, notably its crypto-intellectual concierge, Renée. She and Paloma, the likewise intellectual (even radical) teenage daughter of a resident family, narrate the book in turn. Renée also features briefly in Barbery's first novel, Une Gourmandise, which appeared in Anderson's English translation as Gourmet Rhapsody in 2009. The Elegance of the Hedgehog was turned into a 2009 film called Le Hérisson (in English The Hedgehog), directed by Mona Achache. In 2025, One Hour of Fervor was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award.
Novels
Novels
Une gourmandise, Gallimard, 2000; in English, Gourmet Rhapsody, Europa Editions, August 2009. L'élégance du hérisson, Gallimard, 2006; in English The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Europa Editions, September 2008. La vie des elfes, Gallimard, March 2015; in English (translated by Alison Anderson) The Life of Elves, Europa Editions, February 2016. Un étrange pays, Gallimard, January 2019. Une rose seule, Éditions Actes Sud, August 2020. Une heure de ferveur, January 2022; in English (translated by Alison Anderson) One Hour of Fervour, 2024.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1969
Muriel Barbery was born on 28 May 1969.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q235731: Muriel Barbery
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Muriel Barbery”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- La vie des elfes par Muriel Barbery, The French Review, 2016
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2016
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.Groskop, Viv (2008-09-14). "Confessions of a clever concierge". The Guardian. Retrieved 2017-04-04.
- 2.Marianne No. 528, 2–8 June, p. 76
- 3."L'élégance du hérisson" franchit le cap du million d'exemplaires.
- 4.Interview highlights: 31 October 2010.
- 5.IGO. One Hour of Fervor. Dublin Literary Award. 2025-01-14.
References
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
La vie des elfes par Muriel Barbery, The French Review, 2016Crossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q235731: Muriel BarberyWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
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 14 August 2026.
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