Céline, Louis-Ferdinand

A pseudonym of Louis-Ferdinand Destouches, born in Courbevoie, near Paris. His father was an insurance company official and his mother sold laces, but the family was poor. Céline’s way to writing and his literary breakthrough with Journey to the End of the Night (Voyage au bout de la nuit) in 1932 was anything but straight. He enlisted early on, and was in the initial phase of the First World War sent to the Belgian front, where he was wounded, only to immediately be declared a hero and awarded a medal. Once discharged from the army, he tried his fortune and traveled to the USA and the colonies in West Africa hoping to make quick money. His projects failed, and he returned to France where he started medical studies.