Gabriel Matzneff

Gabriel Michel Hippolyte Matzneff (born 12 August 1936) is a French writer. He was the winner of the Mottard and Amic awards from the Académie française in 1987 and 2009 respectively, the Prix Renaudot essay in 2013 and the Prix Cazes in 2015.

Matzneff described his paedophilia and child sex tourism in some of his books and on his website, and even in television appearances. Despite this, he remained sheltered from prosecution throughout his literary career, benefiting from wide and enthusiastic support within French literary circles despite the fact his books did not sell well among the general public.

In February 2020, following intense media coverage of a recently published book by Vanessa Springora, one of his victims, French prosecutors announced that a criminal investigation had been launched, though the statute of limitations meant the case was dismissed.