Viviane Forrester

Viviane Forrester (29 September 1925, in Paris – 30 April 2013) was an essayist, novelist, journalist and literary critic.

Born Viviane Dreyfus in a French Jewish family, after wartime exile she married Simon Stoloff, with whom she had two sons. After they divorced, she married John Forrester - they separated after some years, but never divorced. She worked for Le Monde, Le Nouvel Observateur and Quinzaine littéraire and was a member of the jury of the Prix Femina. She became famous internationally with her books on Virginia Woolf (Prix Goncourt 2009) and on politics. In L'horreur économique and Une étrange dictature she criticized the globalisation of capitalism. These international bestsellers in particular attacked the free market dogma, and the resulting alienation and misfortunes for the unemployed.

She was also a founding member of ATTAC.

Viviane Forrester died Tuesday 30 April 2013.

She won the Prix Goncourt de la Biographie in 2009 for her biography of Virginia Woolf. She also won the Prix Femina de l'essai in 1983 for her biography of Van Gogh and the Prix Médicis de l'essai in 1996 for "L'horreur économique".She became a member of the jury of the Prix Femina in 1992.