Édouard Louis, born Eddy Bellegueule was born and raised in the town of Hallencourt in northern France, which is the setting of his first novel, the autobiographical “The End of Eddy”, published in 2014. Louis grew up in a poor family his father was a factory worker and his mother found occasional work bathing the elderly. The poverty, racism, alcoholism and his homosexuality which he dealt with in his family during his childhood would become the subject of his literary work. He is the first in his family to attend university. In 2011, he was admitted to two of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in France, the École Normale Supérieure and to the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris. In 2013, he officially changed his name to Édouard Louis.
In 2014 he published “En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule”, an autobiographical novel. The book was the subject of extensive media attention and was hailed for its literary merit and compelling story. The book also generated debate and controversy over social perception of the working class. It was a bestseller in France and has been translated into more than 20 languages.
