# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/simon-leys
# Generated: 2026-08-13T09:30:55.533Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/simon-leys"
name: "Simon Leys"
slug: "simon-leys"
description: "Pierre Ryckmans, better known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian sinologist and translator. He lived in Australia from 1970. His work particularly focused on the politics and traditional culture of China, calligraphy, French and English literature, the commercialization of universities, and nautical fiction. His trilogy Les Habits neufs du président Mao (1971), Ombres chinoises (1974) and Images brisées (1976) denounced the Cultural Revolution in China and the idolizing of Mao in the West."
tagline: "Belgian-Australian writer, sinologist and essayist"
image: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Pierre_Ryckmans.jpg/330px-Pierre_Ryckmans.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Academics"
  slug: "academics"
profileType:
  name: "Academic"
  slug: "academic"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q39631"
birthDate: "1935-09-28"
deathDate: "2014-08-11"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           51.16
  momentum:             0
  historical:           18.314012
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     65
  profileCompleteness:  65
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
platforms:
  - platform:  "IMDB"
    url:       "https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1038849/"
    handle:    "nm1038849"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%DB%8C%D8%B3"
    title: "سیمون لیس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans"
    title: "Pierre Ryckmans"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://mzn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%87"
    title: "سیمون له"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans_(schrijver)"
    title: "Pierre Ryckmans (schrijver)"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans"
    title: "Pierre Ryckmans"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%BD_%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B9%D1%81"
    title: "Симон Лейс"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans"
    title: "Pierre Ryckmans"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans"
    title: "Pierre Ryckmans"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9D%8E%E5%85%8B%E6%9B%BC"
    title: "李克曼"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Ryckmans"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://nl.wikiquote.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%B3"
    title: "سيمون ليس"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DB%8C%D9%85%D9%88%D9%86_%D9%84%D9%87"
    title: "سیمون له"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Leys"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q732583"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://www.themoviedb.org/person/2049804"
    title: "Simon Leys"
    type:  "DATABASE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump