Born in Moscow, Russia. At the time of the Revolution, his family was obliged to undertake a long journey to the Caucasus (where his parents had a great amount of property). From the Crimea, they journeyed by the Black Sea to Constantinople, then Venice and finally to Paris, where they arrived in 1920. Troyat was educated in France, at the Pasteur College in Neuilly. He received a Bachelor of Law degree and also began writing. Meanwhile, having been naturalized as a French citizen, he left for his military service in Metz. He was still in uniform when his first novel, Faux jour, was published, This book won the Prix du Roman populiste in 1935. Returning to civilian life, he entered the Prefecture of the Seine, serving in the budgeting office and continuing to write. He scored many successes with the French book-reading public: Le vivier, Grandeur nature, La Clef de vôte. And, in 1938, he received the Max Barthou Prize, awarded by the Acadèmie Française, for the body of his work to that point. That same year, his new novel, L'Araigne, won the Goncourt Prize. Troyat entered French film adapting his novel Grandeur nature to the screen for LE FEU DE PAILLE (1940, "Fire in the Straw"). After World War II, he devoted himself entirely to writing and resumed his career in films with LE CHÂTEAU DE LA DERNIÈRE CHANCE (1947, "House of the Last Chance"). Other novels adapted to the screen and television include THE MOUNTAIN (1956), "Les Eygletière" (1978), "La Lumière des justes" (1979, mini-series) and "Le Front dans les nuages" (1989). Some of Troyat's other screenplays include THE SHEEP HAS 5 LEGS (1955, LE MOUTON À CINC PATTES), LE GRAND CHEF (1959) and TENDRE ET VIOLENTE ELISABETH (1960). Troyat was elected to the Acadèmie Française in 1959.  Nominated for Writing (Motion Picture Story) 1955: LE MOUTON À CINC PATTES (w. Jean Marsan, Jacques Perret, Henri Verneuil & Raoul Ploquin) 1 nomination