Maurois was born at Elbeuf as the son of a textile manufacturer. His family had fled Alsace after the Franco-Prussian War (1870) and took refuge in Normandy, where they owned a woolen mill at Elbeuf. Maurois was a brilliant student. He studied at the lycée of Elbeuf and Rouen, received barchelor's degree in letters and science and continued for a degree in philosophy at the University of Caen. From the age of eighteen to twenty-six he worked at his father's factory. When the World War I broke out, Maurois was first attached as an interpreter, then as a liaison officer to the British Army.
As a novelist Maurois made his debut with The Silence of Colonel Bramble (1918), which was based on his experiences in the war.
