Outline biography

The table below provides a selective overview of certain key events and periods in Michel Butor's life.

‘Vous prendrez des araucarias et des magnolias, des lilas et des daturas, des figuiers de Barbarie et des cyprès/ que vous mêlerez à des plages de galets’

Carnaval Transatlantique: Ballade municipale (Nice)

The beach at Nice in France
Photo credit: largemaster2 via iStock.com
1926Born on 14 September in Mons-en-Baroeul, Nord
1929Butor family moves to Paris
1940Enters seconde at the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, Paris
1944-47Student at Sorbonne. Initially studies literature, then transfers to philosophy
1946Begins DES under the direction of Gaston Bachelard
1947-48Prepares the Agrégation de philosophie
1950Spends summer vacation in Germany at the Château de Harburg
1950Teacher in Sens
1950-51Teacher at El Minya, Egypt
1951-53Lecteur at the University of Manchester
1954-55Teacher in Thessaloniki
1955-56Temporary replacement for Roland Barthes at the École Nationale Supérieure
1956Awarded Prix Fénéon for L’Emploi du temps
1956-57Teacher in Geneva
1957Awarded Prix Renaudot for La Modification
1958Marries Marie-Josèphe Mas on 22 August
1958Birth of first daughter, Cécile, on 23 June
1959Temporary replacement for Maurice Nadeau at Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia
1960During vacation, teaches at Middlebury, Vermont
1960Birth of second daughter, Agnès, on 17 June
1960Death of father
1960Returns to Paris
1960Signs 'Manifeste des 121'
1960Awarded Prix de la critique littéraire for Répertoire
1961Trips to Italy, Switzerland, Majorca, Vienna, Belgium, UK, Germany
1962Birth of third daughter, Irène, 25 March
1962-3Appointed to Melodia Jones Chair, University of Buffalo
1963Trip to Eastern Europe in September
1964Spends a year in West Berlin, sponsored by the Ford Foundation
1964Trips to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Paris
1965Moves to Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois
1965Spends autumn teaching at North Western University, in Evanston
1966Member of jury at Venice Biennale
1966Trips to Israel, USSR, Japan
1967Birth of fourth daughter, Mathilde, on 5 March
1967Visit to Australia
1968Member of the group led by Maurice Roche which occupied the Hôtel de Massa
1969Obtains temporary teaching post at the University of Vincennes
1969-1970Visiting Professor and ‘Writer in Residence’ at the University of New Mexico
1970Obtains post at the University of Nice; Butor family moves to Nice
1972Death of mother
1973Colloque de Cerisy on Butor
1973-74Visiting Professor at the University of New Mexico
1973-74Trips to America and Vancouver
1974Obtains lecturing post at the University of Geneva
1976Spends July and August in Australia as writer in residence at the University of Brisbane
1980Trip to Japan
1981Trip to Canada, USA
1984Trip to Peru
1986Butor family moves to Lucinges
1989Spends April-July in Japan as a guest of the Rikkyo University in Tokyo
1991Retires from University of Geneva
1992Spends the autumn at the University of Montreal
1993Trip to China
1995Trip to Zimbabwe
1998Grand Prix du romantisme Chateaubriand for Improvisations sur Balzac
2006Prix Mallarmé for Seize Lustres
2006-2011Publication of Butor's Œuvres complètes, edited by Mireille Calle-Gruber
2007Grand Prix Sacem des poètes
2008Grand Prix de l'académie Charles Cros for Petite histoire de la littérature française
2010Death of Marie-Jo Butor, 30 October
2012Awarded New York University Presidential Medal
2013Grand Prix de Littérature de l’Académie française
2016Grand Prix de Poésie de la SGDL
2016Dies on 24 August at Contamine-sur-Arve, France