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Simon Leys
Belgian-Australian writer, sinologist and essayist · Belgium · On the map · Writers · Lived 1935 to 2014 · aged 78
Pierre Ryckmans, better known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian sinologist and translator. He lived in Australia from 1970.
Simon Leys is read about 89 times a day, in 19 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 6 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 121 days, one point a day.
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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.
