Gaston Leroux

Gaston Leroux is a French novelist and journalist, born on 6 May 1868 in Paris and died on 15 April 1927 in Nice. He is best known for his fantastic police novels such as Rouletabille, The Mystery of the Yellow Room, The Parfum of the Lady in Black, The Fantome of the Opera. First a lawyer from 1890 to 1893, he wrote trial reports for the newspaper L'Écho de Paris, to round his month-ends. He then became a judicial columnist of the daily Le Matin.

From 1901, Leroux was a great reporter and made numerous trips to France and abroad.

From 1909 he moved to Nice to Mount Boron, then to Cimiez, finally Gambetta Boulevard at the North Star Palace.

Many of his works are written there, as well as a novel in the old Nice, Hardigras. In 1918, Leroux founded the Société des Cinéromans in Nice with Arthur Bernède and René Navarre, the interpreter of the Fantomas de Louis Feuillade. Gaston Leroux was also a resolute opponent of the death penalty, against which he militated through his play The House of Judges.