Françoise Xenakis (1930–2018)

Françoise Xenakis, née Gargouïl, was born in Blois, France. She began her career as a literary journalist in the early 1960s, and became better known during the 1980s, when she started working at Le Matin de Paris, a daily newspaper, and for Télématin, a morning TV news show.

In 1953, she married Iannis Xenakis, later one of the most important classical composers of the post-war avant-garde, with whom she had a daughter. Françoise has written nearly two dozen books and several film scripts since 1963, including Le droit d'aimer (1972), Comment épouser un héritage? (1995) and Attends-moi (1993), winner of the Prix des libraires. She has served as chair of the judging panel for the literary prize 30 million d'amies.