Paula Jacques

Paula Jacques was born Paula Abadi to a French-speaking Egyptian-Jewish family. Her parents were Jacques Abadi, a merchant, and Esther Sasson. The Jewish community was expelled from Egypt in 1957, at the time of the Suez crisis. Paula's family went to Israel. There she spent a short time on a Marxist kibbutz before leaving for Paris. By age 17, she had married and was living in the provincial city of Saint-Étienne. From 1967 to 1971, she served as cultural director of a theater called La Comédie Jean Dasté. Her marriage ended and in 1971, she headed a troupe of actors that toured Africa. She then went to work for Radio France Internationale as a reporter and producer. Many of her works are inspired by her own life and experiences. In 1980, she published her first book, Lumière de l’oeil (Light of the Eye), which described her childhood years in Egypt. She won the Prix Femina in 1991 for her first novel, Deborah ou les anges dissipés (Deborah, or The Dissipated Angels). Among her other works are Les femmes avec leur amour (Women and Their Love, 1999) and Gilda Stambouli souffre et se plaint (Gilda Stambouli Suffers and Complains, 2002). She is the host of the radio show Cosmopolitaine.