Maurice Druon (23 April 1918 â 14 April 2009) was a French novelist and a member of the AcadĂ©mie française, of which he served as "Perpetual Secretary" (chairman) between 1985 and 1999. Born in Paris, France, Druon was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrant Lazare Kessel (1899â1920) and was brought up at La Croix-Saint-Leufroy in Normandy and educated at the lycĂ©e Michelet de Vanves. His father committed suicide in 1920 and his