Obituary: Roman d’Olivier author Robert Sabatier (1923-2012)

Robert Sabatier, the French novelist best known for his Roman d’Olivier series about life in 1930s Paris, has died at the age of 88. At the time of his death, he was working on his memoirs.

The Roman d’Olivier books were semi-autobiographical, and provided an unprecedented insight into the life of families in some of the poorer parts of Paris. The series proved popular, with some instalments being adapted for television.

Sabatier was also a noted poet. He was elected to the Academie Goncourt iin 1971 and later to the Academie Mallarme. His work appeared in a number of collections covering modern European poetry.