Outline biography
The table below provides a selective overview of certain key events and periods in Michel Butor's life.
‘Vous prendrez des araucarias et des magnolias, des lilas et des daturas, des figuiers de Barbarie et des cyprès/ que vous mêlerez à des plages de galets’
Carnaval Transatlantique: Ballade municipale (Nice)
| 1926 | Born on 14 September in Mons-en-Baroeul, Nord |
| 1929 | Butor family moves to Paris |
| 1940 | Enters seconde at the Lycée Louis-Le-Grand, Paris |
| 1944-47 | Student at Sorbonne. Initially studies literature, then transfers to philosophy |
| 1946 | Begins DES under the direction of Gaston Bachelard |
| 1947-48 | Prepares the Agrégation de philosophie |
| 1950 | Spends summer vacation in Germany at the Château de Harburg |
| 1950 | Teacher in Sens |
| 1950-51 | Teacher at El Minya, Egypt |
| 1951-53 | Lecteur at the University of Manchester |
| 1954-55 | Teacher in Thessaloniki |
| 1955-56 | Temporary replacement for Roland Barthes at the École Nationale Supérieure |
| 1956 | Awarded Prix Fénéon for L’Emploi du temps |
| 1956-57 | Teacher in Geneva |
| 1957 | Awarded Prix Renaudot for La Modification |
| 1958 | Marries Marie-Josèphe Mas on 22 August |
| 1959 | Birth of first daughter, Cécile, on 23 June |
| 1960 | Temporary replacement for Maurice Nadeau at Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia |
| 1960 | During vacation, teaches at Middlebury, Vermont |
| 1960 | Birth of second daughter, Agnès, on 17 June |
| 1960 | Death of father |
| 1960 | Returns to Paris |
| 1960 | Signs 'Manifeste des 121' |
| 1960 | Awarded Prix de la critique littéraire for Répertoire |
| 1961 | Trips to Italy, Switzerland, Majorca, Vienna, Belgium, UK, Germany |
| 1962 | Birth of third daughter, Irène, 25 March |
| 1962-3 | Appointed to Melodia Jones Chair, University of Buffalo |
| 1963 | Trip to Eastern Europe in September |
| 1964 | Spends a year in West Berlin, sponsored by the Ford Foundation |
| 1964 | Trips to Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Paris |
| 1965 | Moves to Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois |
| 1965 | Spends autumn teaching at North Western University, in Evanston |
| 1966 | Member of jury at Venice Biennale |
| 1966 | Trips to Israel, USSR, Japan |
| 1967 | Birth of fourth daughter, Mathilde, on 5 March |
| 1967 | Visit to Australia |
| 1968 | Member of the group led by Maurice Roche which occupied the Hôtel de Massa |
| 1969 | Obtains temporary teaching post at the University of Vincennes |
| 1969-1970 | Visiting Professor and ‘Writer in Residence’ at the University of New Mexico |
| 1970 | Obtains post at the University of Nice; Butor family moves to Nice |
| 1972 | Death of mother |
| 1973 | Colloque de Cerisy on Butor |
| 1973-74 | Visiting Professor at the University of New Mexico |
| 1973-74 | Trips to America and Vancouver |
| 1974 | Obtains lecturing post at the University of Geneva |
| 1976 | Spends July and August in Australia as writer in residence at the University of Brisbane |
| 1980 | Trip to Japan |
| 1981 | Trip to Canada, USA |
| 1984 | Trip to Peru |
| 1986 | Butor family moves to Lucinges |
| 1989 | Spends April-July in Japan as a guest of the Rikkyo University in Tokyo |
| 1991 | Retires from University of Geneva |
| 1992 | Spends the autumn at the University of Montreal |
| 1993 | Trip to China |
| 1995 | Trip to Zimbabwe |
| 1998 | Grand Prix du romantisme Chateaubriand for Improvisations sur Balzac |
| 2006 | Prix Mallarmé for Seize Lustres |
| 2006-2011 | Publication of Butor's Œuvres complètes, edited by Mireille Calle-Gruber |
| 2007 | Grand Prix Sacem des poètes |
| 2008 | Grand Prix de l'académie Charles Cros for Petite histoire de la littérature française |
| 2010 | Death of Marie-Jo Butor, 30 October |
| 2012 | Awarded New York University Presidential Medal |
| 2013 |
Grand Prix de Littérature de l’Académie française |
| 2016 |
Grand Prix de Poésie de la SGDL |
| 2016 |
Dies on 24 August at Contamine-sur-Arve, France |