author
Emile Nolly
1880–1914
A French army officer who turned his experiences in Indochina and Africa into vivid fiction, he wrote with the immediacy of someone who had lived the worlds he described. His career was cut short when he was killed in the opening weeks of World War I, giving his work an added sense of urgency and loss.
1 Audiobook
Hiên le Maboul
by Emile Nolly
About the author
Writing under the name Émile Nolly, Émile Joseph Détanger was born in Izieux, France, on November 5, 1880. He trained at Saint-Cyr and served as an officer in the colonial infantry, with postings that informed much of his fiction.
His books drew on military and colonial life, especially experiences connected with Indochina and Africa. That firsthand background helped give his stories a direct, reportorial energy that set him apart from more purely literary contemporaries.
Nolly died at Blainville-sur-l’Eau on September 5, 1914, at the very start of World War I. His work continued to be recognized after his death, including an award from the Académie française in 1915.