WRITER

Georges Simenon

1903 - 1989

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Georges Joseph Christian Simenon (French: [ʒɔʁʒ simnɔ̃]; 12/13 February 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a Belgian writer, most famous for his fictional detective Jules Maigret. One of the most popular authors of the 20th century, he published around 400 novels, 21 volumes of memoirs and many short stories, selling over 500 million copies. Apart from his detective fiction, he achieved critical acclaim for his literary novels which he called romans durs (hard novels). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Georges Simenon has received more than 1,267,409 page views. His biography is available in 73 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 70 in 2019). Georges Simenon is the 160th most popular writer (up from 183rd in 2019), the 20th most popular biography from Belgium (up from 22nd in 2019) and the 2nd most popular Belgian Writer.

Georges Simenon is most famous for his detective novels.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 73.83

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 73

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 10.61

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.04

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Maigret and the Bum / Maigret et le clochard
1963
L'affaire Saint-Fiacre
Fiction
Maigret savoured the sensations of his youth again: the cold, stinging eyes, frozen fingertips, an aftertaste of coffee. Then, stepping inside the church, a blast of heat, soft light; the smell of candles and incense. The last time Maigret went home to the village of his birth was for his father's funeral. Now an anonymous note predicting a crime during All Souls' Day mass draws him back there, where troubling memories resurface and hidden vices are revealed. 'A writer of genius.' Daily Mail
1932
Le chien jaune
1931
La première enquête de Maigret (1913)
1948
Maigret tend un piège
1955
Pietr-le-Letton
1931

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Georges Simenon ranks 160 out of 7,302. Before him are Catullus, Novalis, Fernando Pessoa, Karen Blixen, John the Evangelist, and Terry Pratchett. After him are Lucian, Heinrich Böll, Menander, Cyrano de Bergerac, Nicolas Flamel, and Ivan Turgenev.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1903, Georges Simenon ranks 7. Before him are George Orwell, Olav V of Norway, John von Neumann, Konrad Lorenz, Aram Khachaturian, and Theodor W. Adorno. After him are Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Mark Rothko, Habib Bourguiba, C. F. Powell, Fernandel, and Yasujirō Ozu. Among people deceased in 1989, Georges Simenon ranks 11. Before him are Bette Davis, Samuel Beckett, Herbert von Karajan, Andrei Sakharov, Ted Bundy, and Konrad Lorenz. After him are Sergio Leone, Elena Ceaușescu, Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Osamu Tezuka, Lee Van Cleef, and János Kádár.

Others Born in 1903

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Others Deceased in 1989

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In Belgium

Among people born in Belgium, Georges Simenon ranks 20 out of 1,190. Before him are Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908), Ursula von der Leyen (1958), Philip I of Castile (1478), Albert II of Belgium (1934), Frans Hals (1582), and Orlande de Lassus (1534). After him are Mary of Burgundy (1457), Agnès Varda (1928), Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960), Rogier van der Weyden (1390), Albert I of Belgium (1875), and Samo (600).

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Among WRITERS In Belgium

Among writers born in Belgium, Georges Simenon ranks 2. Before him are Maurice Maeterlinck (1862). After him are Marguerite Yourcenar (1903), Julio Cortázar (1914), Émile Verhaeren (1855), Marguerite Porete (1250), Pierre Louÿs (1870), Henri Michaux (1899), Laura Marx (1845), Victor Serge (1890), Georges Rodenbach (1855), and Hugo Claus (1929).

Belgian born Writers

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