Editing Roger Peyrefitte (section)

==Life and work==
Born in [[Castres]], [[Tarn (department)|Tarn]], to a middle-class bourgeois family, Peyrefitte went to [[Jesuit]] and [[Lazarist]] [[boarding school]]s and then studied language and literature in the [[University of Toulouse]]. After graduating first of his year from [[Institut d'Études Politiques de Paris]] in 1930, he worked as an embassy secretary in [[Athens]] between 1933 and 1938. Back in Paris, he had to resign in 1940 for personal reasons before being reintegrated in 1943 and finally ending his diplomatic career in 1945. In his novels, he often treated controversial themes and his work put him at odds with the [[Roman Catholic]] church.

He wrote openly about his [[homoerotic]] experiences in boarding school in his 1943 first novel {{Lang|fr|[[Les amitiés particulières]]}} which won the coveted [[prix Renaudot]] in 1944. The book was made into a film of the same name which was released in 1964. On the set, Peyrefitte met the 12-year-old [[Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villèle]];<ref>R. Peyrefitte, ''Propos secrets'', 1977, pp. 285–289; ''L'Enfant de cœur'', 1978, pp. 9 and 29.</ref> Peyrefitte tells the story of their relationship in ''Notre amour'' ("Our Love" – 1967) and ''L'Enfant de cœur'' ("Child of the Heart" – 1978).  Malagnac later married [[performer]] [[Amanda Lear]].

A cultivator of scandal, Peyrefitte attacked the [[Holy See|Vatican]] and [[Pope Pius&nbsp;XII]] in his book ''Les Clés de saint Pierre'' (1953), which earned him the nickname of "Pope of the Homosexuals". The publication of the book started a bitter quarrel with [[François Mauriac]]. Mauriac threatened to resign from the paper he was working with at the time, ''[[L'Express (France)|L'Express]]'', if it did not stop carrying advertisements for the book. The quarrel was exacerbated by Mauriac's articles attacking the memory of [[Jean Cocteau]] because of his homosexuality and the release of the film adaptation of {{Lang|fr|[[Les amitiés particulières (film)|Les amitiés particulières]]}}. This culminated in a virulent open letter by Peyrefitte in which he accused Mauriac of being a hypocrite, a fake heterosexual who maligned his own children and a [[closeted]] homosexual with a past.<ref name="glbtq">{{citation |last=Sibalis |first=Michael D. |url=http://www.glbtq.com/literature/peyrefitte_r.html |title=Peyrefitte, Roger |periodical=[[glbtq.com]] |year=2006 |accessdate=2008-02-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215942/http://www.glbtq.com/literature/peyrefitte_r.html |archivedate=2007-09-26 }}</ref>

In ''Les Ambassades'' (1951), he revealed the ins and outs of diplomacy. Peyrefitte also wrote a book full of gossip about Baron [[Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen]]'s exile in [[Capri]] (''L'Exilé de Capri'', 1959) and translated Greek gay love poetry (''La Muse garçonnière (The Boyish Muse)'', Flammarion, 1973).

In his memoirs, ''Propos Secrets'', he wrote extensively about his youth, his sex life ([[pederastic]] mainly and a few affairs with women), his years as a diplomat, and his travels to Greece and Italy.

Roger Peyrefitte wrote popular historical biographies about [[Alexander the Great]] and [[Voltaire]]. In ''Voltaire et Frédéric&nbsp;II'' he claimed that Voltaire had been the [[anal sex|passive]] lover of [[Frederick the Great]].

In spite of his [[Libertarianism|libertarian]] views on sexuality, politically Peyrefitte was a [[conservatism|conservative]] [[bourgeois]] and in his later years he supported the [[far-right]] politician [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.glbtq.com/literature/peyrefitte_r.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926215942/http://www.glbtq.com/literature/peyrefitte_r.html|url-status=dead|title=Article on Roger Peyrefitte at the ''GLBTQ Encyclopedia''|archivedate=September 26, 2007}}</ref>

He died of [[Parkinson's disease]] at age 93.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/08/arts/roger-peyrefitte-french-writer-dies-at-93.html |title=Roger Peyrefitte, French Writer, Dies at 93 |last=Riding |first=Alan |date=2000-11-08 |website=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2017-08-22}}</ref>