Death of writer and literary critic Angelo Rinaldi

Writer and literary critic Angelo Rinaldi, winner of the Prix Femina in 1971, died on Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at the age of 84, the Académie Française announced.

"The Permanent Secretary and members of the Académie Française are saddened to announce the passing of their colleague, Angelo Rinaldi, on Wednesday, May 7, in Paris," the Academy said in a statement. He was elected to the Immortals in 2001, in seat 20.

Born in Bastia on June 17, 1940, into a family of shepherds, he was the son of a resistance fighter. He left Corsica at the age of 20, almost never to return, even though he never forgot the Corsican language .

His lifelong profession has remained that of journalist, first as a reporter and legal columnist in daily newspapers such as Nice-Matin and Paris-Jour, then as a columnist and literary critic in weekly publications: L'Express , Le Point , Le Nouvel Observateur , Le Figaro littéraire .

He received the consecration of the autumn prizes at only 31 years old with his second novel, La Maison des Atlantes , a confession, at the end of his life, of a lawyer from Corsica.

As a literary critic, he was known for being extremely demanding in terms of style, which earned him harsh judgments on now-renowned writers such as Milan Kundera , Marguerite Duras and Patrick Modiano.

"I've always written what I thought. I'm not saying I've always been right. You have to choose between your job and your career. If you write what will delight the publisher or the author, you'll have a career, but you won't be doing your job as a literary critic," he told La Revue des deux mondes in 2024.

In March, a collection of 58 chronicles was reissued under the title Les Roses et les Épines .