Pierre Ryckmans

Who is Pierre Ryckmans?

Pierre Ryckmans, who also uses the pen-name Simon Leys, is a writer, sinologist, essayist and literary critic.

He studied law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Chinese language, literature and art in Taiwan. He went to Hong Kong, before settling down in Australia in 1970. He taught Chinese literature at the Australian National University, where he supervised the honours thesis of future Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, and later was Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney. After that he returned to Canberra, where he has lived ever since.

In 1971, on the advice of his publisher, he decided to adopt a pseudonym before the release of Les habits neufs du président Mao, in order to avoid the risk of becoming a persona non grata in the People's Republic of China. He chose "Leys" after the main character of Victor Segalen's novel René Leys.

In 2004, he was awarded the Prix mondial Cino Del Duca.