Némirovsky, Irène

French author, born in Kyiv by Russian-Jewish parents. Her father was one of the richest bankers of Tsarist Russia, and Irène grew up in material luxury, but without emotional support from her parents. Her mother's complete disinterest in her would eventually give rise to some of the most acerbic mother portraits in literary history. In her loneliness as a teenager, it was precisely to literature that Irène took refuge, and soon she began writing herself.