at 93, he published a book about his life and his encounters

at 93, he published a book about his life and his encounters
at 93, he published a book about his life and his encounters

Par

Baptiste Ringeval

Published on

Jan 13, 2025 at 5:50 p.m.

700 pages of life and memories. In December 2024, Raymond Smeets-Faniardborn in Belgium in 1931 then naturalized French in 1948, published a book « Memoirs of a former Belgian« . Now living in Othis for more than 50 years, he looks back on his life, emphasizing his family, his passions and his life during World War II from 8 to 14 years old.

An excellent memory

Raymond began this book in 1992. “Since then, I have returned to it from time to time and last year, I had reached the 700 pages“, he explains before continuing, “the idea was not to publish it then I came across an ad from a publishing house which was looking for an original manuscript. I then decided to send my text and the response was positive to a text that Livre Actualité editions found to be very great quality. »

With this book, the goal now is to leave something for my children.

Raymond Smeets-Faniard

And if the writing was so long, it is because the author tells extremely precise life details whether it be about his family, his vacations, his travels, the tragedies, but also the Second World War which he experienced in boarding school from the age of 8 to 14. ” I have an excellent memory. I think this all comes from my readings. I started reading when I was 3 and a half years old and since then, I have never stopped,” says the man who has anecdotes about every moment of his life. And alongside this sensational memory, the 93-year-old also achieved research work Dantesque to achieve this result.

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A family of artists

In “Memoirs of a former Belgian”Raymond particularly mentions his father, Fernand Faniard. The latter, born in 1894, was a famous tenor. Arriving in in 1931, shortly after Raymond’s birth, Fernand Faniard made his Parisian debut in 1931 at the Palais Garnier and became famous for his interpretations of the great Wagnerian works, including Lohengrin, Tristan and Isolde and The Walkyrie.

Other artists are also featured in the book. His wife is a renowned painter, his daughter is a lyrical artist and he himself has done a lot of theater but also jazz.

“There you go, I tell so many things in this book that it is impossible for me to summarize everything,” continues the author before concluding, “I two other books which will, perhaps one day, be published : the first titled “ Coincidence » where I explain a whole bunch of crazy stories that happened to me and others about my life as a photoengraver. »

An afternoon of signings is planned for Saturday January 18 at 2:30 p.m., at the Maison du Livre Louis Aragon, Avenue du Petit Chaalis in Othis.

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