Marguerite Donnadieu, known as Marguerite Duras ( 4 April 1914 3 March 1996), was a French writer and film director.

. he was !orn in "ia#$inh (a former name for ai%on), French &ndochina (now 'ietnam), after her parents responded to a campai%n !( the French %o)ernment enco*ra%in% people to work in the colon(. Mar%*erite+s father fell ill soon after their arri)al, and ret*rned to France, where he died. After his death, her mother, a teacher, remained in &ndochina with her three children. ,he famil( li)ed in relati)e po)ert( after her mother made a !ad in)estment in an isolated propert( and area of farmland in -am!odia. ,he diffic*lt life that the famil( e.perienced d*rin% this period was hi%hl( infl*ential on Mar%*erite+s later work. An affair !etween the teena%ed Mar%*erite and /*(nh ,h*( 0e, a rich a $ec merchant, was to !e treated se)eral times (descri!ed in 1*ite contrastin% wa(s) in her s*!se1*ent memoirs and fiction. he also reported !ein% !eaten !( !oth her mother and her older !rother d*rin% this period. At 12, Mar%*erite went to France, her parents+ nati)e co*ntr(, where she !e%an st*d(in% for a de%ree in mathematics. ,his she soon a!andoned to concentrate on political sciences, and then law. After completin% her st*dies, she !ecame an acti)e mem!er of the 3-F (the French -omm*nist 3art(). &n the late 1934s she worked for the French %o)ernment office representin% the colon( of &ndochina. $*rin% the war, from 1945 to 1944, she worked for the 'ich( %o)ernment in an office that allocated paper to p*!lishers (in the process operatin% a de facto !ook censorship s(stem), !*t she was also a mem!er of the French 6esistance. /er h*s!and, 6o!ert Antelme, was deported to 7*chenwald for his in)ol)ement in the 6esistance, and !arel( s*r)i)ed the e.perience (wei%hin% on his release, accordin% to Mar%*erite, 8*st 39 k%). &n 1943, for her first no)el p*!lished Les Impudents, she decided to *se as pen name the s*rname of Duras, a )illa%e in the 0ot#et#"aronne dpartement, where her father+s ho*se was located. he was the a*thor of man( no)els, pla(s, films, inter)iews, essa(s and short fiction, incl*din% her !est#sellin%, apparentl( a*to!io%raphical work L'Amant (1994), translated into :n%lish as The Lover, which descri!es her (o*thf*l affair with a -hinese man. ,his te.t won the "onco*rt pri;e in 1994. ,he stor( of her adolescence also appears in three other forms< The Sea Wall, Eden Cinema and The North China Lover. A film )ersion of The Lover, prod*ced !( -la*de 7erri and directed !( =ean#=ac1*es Anna*d, was released to %reat s*ccess in 1995. The Sea Wall was first adapted into the 19>9 film This Angry Age !( 6en? -l?ment, and a%ain in 5449 !( -am!odian director 6ith( 3anh as The Sea Wall. @ther ma8or works incl*de Moderato Canta ile, also made into a film of the same name, Le !avissement de Lol "# Stein, and her pla( India Song$ which $*ras herself later directed as a film, also titled India Song (192>). he was also the screenwriter of the 19>9 French film %iroshima mon amour, which was directed !( Alain 6esnais.

$*ras+s earl( no)els were fairl( con)entional in form (their +romanticism+ was criticised !( fellow writer 6a(mond A*enea*)B howe)er, with Moderato Canta ile she !ecame more e.perimental, parin% down her te.ts to %i)e e)er#increasin% importance to what was not said. he was associated with the Co*)ea* roman French literar( mo)ement, altho*%h she did not !elon% definiti)el( to an( %ro*p. Man( of her works, s*ch as Le !avissement de Lol "# Stein (1964) and L'%omme assis dans le &ouloir (1994) deal with h*man se.*alit(.D1E /er films are also e.perimental in formB most eschew s(nchroni;ed so*nd, *sin% )oice o)er to all*de to, rather than tell, a stor(B spoken te.t is 8*.taposed with ima%es whose relation to what is said ma( !e more#or#less indirect. $espite her s*ccess as a writer, $*ras+s ad*lt life was also marked !( personal challen%es, incl*din% a rec*rrin% str*%%le with alcoholism. $*ras died of throat cancer in 3aris, a%ed 91. he is !*ried in the -imetiFre d* Montparnasse. he was noted for her command of dialo%*e.D5E