born in lyon in 1895, gabriel chevallier was educated in various schools before entering lyon école des beaux-arts in 1911. he was called up at the start of world war i and wounded a year later, but returned to the front where he served as an infantryman until the war's end. he was awarded the croix de guerre and chevalier de la légion d'honneur. following the war, he undertook several jobs including art teacher, journalist and a commercial traveller before starting to write in 1925. his novel "la peur" (fear) published in 1930 drew upon his own experiences and formed a damning indictment of the war. it was not translated until 2011 (serpent's tail, ). he was married with one son and died in cannes in 1969.