Life

He was born in 1925, and served in the French Army, specifically in the 2nd Hussard Regiment in the Second World War (Until 1945).
He began to write quite early in his life. His first novel, Les Épées (The Swords) was published in 1948, when he was only 23.

He was the leader of the Hussards

Hussards (literary movement)

The Hussards was a French literary movement in the 1950s which opposed Existentialism and the figure of the politically engaged intellectual as personified by Jean-Paul Sartre.-Origins:...

, a literary group which included notably Antoine Blondin

Antoine Blondin

Antoine Blondin was a French writer.He belonged to the literary group called the Hussards. He was also a sports columnist in L'Équipe. Blondin also wrote under the name Tenorio.-Biography:...

, Michel Déon

Michel Déon

Michel Déon is a French writer.With Antoine Blondin, Jacques Laurent and Roger Nimier, he belonged to the literary group of the Hussards. He is a novelist as well as a literary columnist....

 and Jacques Laurent

Jacques Laurent

Jacques Laurent or Jacques Laurent-Cély was a French writer and journalist.He belonged to the literary group of the Hussards, and is known as a prolific historical novelist, essay writer, and screenwriter under the nom de plume of Cecil Saint-Laurent...

, opposed to existentialism

Existentialism

Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...

. He was opposed to the figure of the "engaged writer" symbolized by Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Sartre

Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...

.
His most famous work is considered to be Le Hussard bleu published in 1950. Nimier also wrote in monarchist review La Nation française

La Nation française

La Nation française was a French monarchist weekly influenced by Charles Maurras, the founder of the Action française movement...

.

He also worked with director Louis Malle

Louis Malle

Louis Malle was a French film director, screenwriter, and producer. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. His films include Ascenseur pour l'échafaud , Atlantic City , and Au revoir, les enfants .- Early years in France :Malle was born into a wealthy industrialist family in Thumeries,...

 on the screenplay for Malle's 1958 film Ascenseur pour l'échafaud.

Published works

• Les Épées (1948)
• Perfide (1950?)
• Le hussard bleu (1950)
• Les Enfants tristes (1951)
• Histoire d’un amour (1953)
• L' Etrangere (1968)

See also

• Hussards (literary movement)
  Hussards (literary movement)
  The Hussards was a French literary movement in the 1950s which opposed Existentialism and the figure of the politically engaged intellectual as personified by Jean-Paul Sartre.-Origins:...