Jules Maigret | |
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Bruno Cremer as Jules Maigret
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First appearance | The Strange Case of Peter the Lett |
Created by | Georges Simenon |
Portrayed by | |
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Gender | Male |
Occupation | Police officer |
Family |
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Spouse(s) | Louise Léonard (m. 1912) |
Nationality | French |
Jules Amedée François Maigret [ʒyl mɛɡʁɛ], simply Jules Maigret or Maigret to most people, is a fictional French police detective, actually a commissaire or commissioner of the Paris Brigade Criminelle (Direction Régionale de Police Judiciaire de Paris), created by writer Georges Simenon.
Seventy-six novels and twenty-eight short stories about Maigret were published between 1931 and 1972, starting with Pietr-le-Letton (Peter the Lett) and concluding with Maigret et Monsieur Charles (Maigret and Monsieur Charles). The Maigret stories were also adapted for television and radio.
An ambitious project by Penguin Books will see the publication of new translations of 75 books in Georges Simenon’s Maigret series over as many months beginning in November 2013, by translators David Bellos, Anthea Bell, and Ros Schwartz.
The character of Maigret was invented, but after the first few novels was influenced by Chief Inspector Marcel Guillaume , said to be the greatest French detective of his day, who became a long-time friend of Simenon.
Maigret is described as a large, broad shouldered man — he is gruff, but patient and fair. Recurring characters in the series include Maigret's wife Louise (usually referred to simply as Madame Maigret) and in particular "The Faithful Four", a group consisting of his four loyal police colleagues (Sgt./Inspector Lucas, Janvier, Lapointe, and Torrence).