Wladimir d'Ormesson

Count Wladimir Lefèvre d'Ormesson (2 August 1888 – 15 September 1973) was a French journalist, essayist, novelist and diplomat.

Biography Wladimir d'Ormesson was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, where his father, Count Olivier d'Ormesson, served as a diplomat. He was the uncle of Jean d'Ormesson, also a writer who, like himself, would be elected a member of the Académie Française. Until the age of twenty, d'Ormesson spent the majority of his life travelling due to his father's diplomatic postings; during this time, he lived in Copenhagen, Athens and Brussels. He studied economy at the École libre des sciences politiques in 1905, but did not graduate; during this time he had already developed an interest in literature, and published a book of verse while a student.

During World War I, d'Ormesson was mobilized into the French auxiliary service and later volunteered in the French Army. He was seriously wounded in Altkirch in 1916, and later served as an orderly officer under Marshal Hubert Lyautey in Morocco. He would describe his service under Marshal Lyautey in the memoir Auprès de Lyautey in 1963.

Aside from his journalistic and diplomatic career, d'Ormesson was also a prolific writer: he wrote many essays (Dans la nuit européenne, La Confiance de l'Allemagne) and some novels (La Préface d'une vie). He died at Ormesson Castle in Ormesson-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, where he is also buried.