Commander of the National Order of Merit, Cavalier of the Grand Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor, Commander of the Order of Arts and Literature, laureate of several literary awards, Henri Truiai - French writer with Armenian roots, who wrote dozens of works on the history of Russia.
Biography
The real name of Henri Troyes is Leo Tarasov. He was born in 1911 in Moscow, in a family of Circassian Armenians. Leo's ancestors bore the name Toros, but when they moved to Armavir, a Russian official wrote down their name as "Tarasov."
It was a famous family that contributed to the Russian economy through trade and investment in banking and rail transport. In his blood there is a German component from the side of the mother, Georgian - from the side of the father. A characteristic of many Tarasov’s relatives was a passion for what he loved.
From Armavir, Toros moved to Moscow, where they had three children. It was a rather prosperous family that could afford to live almost in the center of the capital. When the youngest son was born in the Tarasov-Toros family, he was called Leon - in the Armenian manner. However, the parents had Russian passports, and they considered themselves Russian Armenians.
After the revolution of 1917, the Toros fled to Constantinople, but with their passports they were not allowed to go there, and they had to go to France. The Toros family had to go through many trials, however, a persistent disposition and self-confidence helped to overcome all difficulties.
They settled in Paris, where Leon studied at the Lyceum of Louis Pasteur, then at the Faculty of Law. Then he already had French citizenship. Then there was the army, service in the police prefecture and night vigils when he wrote his first works. The prefecture made it possible to earn a living, and writing became for him something vital and necessary.
Writing Success
The first novel of Toros “Deceptive light" was published in the year of writing - in 1935. Then his pseudonym "Henri Trois" was born, because the publisher refused to publish the author’s novel with a Russian surname. I had to get used to the new name and surname.
Three years later, the novel “Spider” by Truaye won the Goncourt Prize - this is an unprecedented success for a young writer. True, by that time he already had several short stories and short stories.
After that, detailed biographical studies began - Henry wrote about Russian writers. He wrote enthusiastically, earnestly and sincerely, studying archival documents and reading through their works, as if trying to understand their essence through what they described.
More than 100 books came out from the pen of Trois, among them historical novels, biographies and plays, although there are not many of them. He is called one of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century.
When Henry was asked why he wrote specifically about Russian writers, he replied that he loved Russian literature and wanted to introduce these riches to French readers.
His passion and enthusiasm did not go unnoticed: in 1959 he was overwhelmingly elected a member of the French Academy, which was a rarity for emigrants.
