Frédéric Dard
Frédéric Dard | |
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Dard in 1992 (photo by Erling Mandelmann) | |
| Born | Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard June 21, 1921 Bourgoin-Jallieu, France |
| Died | 6 June 2000 (aged 78) Fribourg, Switzerland |
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| Occupation(s) | Novelist, playwright, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1940–2000 |
| Known for | Author of the San-Antonio book series (1949-2001) |
Frédéric Charles Antoine Dard (29 June 1921, in Bourgoin-Jallieu, Isère, France – 6 June 2000, in Bonnefontaine, Fribourg, Switzerland)) also known under the pen name San-Antonio, was a French writer. Known as an author of crime fiction and as a humorist, he was noted for his ability to blend the two genres. Though Dard also wrote serious fiction, his most successful books used a farcical tone.
During his lifetime, Dard was the best-selling French-language author in the World. He published more than four hundred novels, plays and screenplays, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms, including the San-Antonio book series. Dard used San-Antonio both as a pen name and as the name of the titular hero of his main series. The San-Antonio books eventually became so popular that Dard started using that pen name also for books that did not belong to the series.