Born in Madrid, Spain. A member of the Spanish Communist Party and combatant against Franco, he was deported in 1942, then fought with the French Resistance and was imprisoned by the Nazis at Buchenwald. After the war he was a journalist for UNESCO and in the 60s began writing novels and screenplays. Disenchanted with the Communist Party, he expressed in his writing loathing of totalitarian regimes of any kind. He received Oscar® nominations for the scripts of Renais' LA GUERRE EST FINIE (1966) and Costa-Gavras' Z (1969). He directed one film, LES DEUX MÉMOIRES / THE TWO MEMORIES (1973). Other notable screen credits include OBJECTIF: 500 MILLIONS (1966), L'AVEU (1970), L'ATTENTAT (1972), LES DEUX MÉMOIRES and STAVISKY... (both 1974), SECTION SPÉCIALE (1975), UNE FEMME À SA FENÊTRE (both 1976), LES ROUTES DU SUD (1978), LES TROTTOIRS DE SATURNE (1986), and K (1997). Semprun served as Spain's Minister of Culture from 1988-1991 under Socialist Prime Minister Felipe González.  Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay written directly for the screen) 1967: LA GUERRE EST FINIE  Nominated for Writing (Best Story and Screenplay based on material from another medium) 1969: Z (w. Costa-Gavras) 2 nominations