Fu Lei

Fu Lei (Fou Lei; Chinese: 傅雷; courtesy name Nu'an 怒安, pseudonym Nu'an 怒庵; 1908–1966), with his renowned rendition of Balzac and Romain Rolland, is China's most respected translator of French literature. Born in Nanhui, today a district of Shanghai, Fu Lei was raised by his mother. Between 1928 and 1931 he read literature and art history in Paris, befriending, amongst others, Jacques Maritain and Jean Daniélou. Between 1932 and 1934 he taught art history at Shanghai Art Academy. An occasional critic and curator, for the most part of his working life, Fu Lei translated full-time.In 1958 Fu Lei was labelled a rightist in the Anti-Rightist Movement. In 1966, at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, he and his wife Zhu Meifu committed suicide. His letters to his son, the pianist Fou Ts'ong, were published in 1981. Fu Lei's Family Letters is a long-standing best-seller.