Henri Troyat was a French author of Russian origin whose historical biographies served as the source material for at least one notable manga, positioning him as an original creator within the context of Japanese comics.

Born Lev Aslanovich Tarasov in Moscow in 1911, Troyat’s family fled Russia following the Bolshevik revolution, eventually settling in Paris in 1920. He became a prolific writer, publishing over one hundred works, including novels and biographies of major Russian historical and literary figures. His literary career was distinguished by the receipt of the Prix Goncourt in 1938 and his election to the Académie Française in 1959.

Troyat’s connection to manga stems from his biographical work on Catherine the Great of Russia. He authored the biography Catherine la Grande, a detailed historical account of the Russian empress. This book was subsequently adapted into a manga series titled Catherine la grande, also known in Japanese as Jotei Ekaterina (女帝エカテリーナ).

The manga was created by Riyoko Ikeda, the acclaimed artist best known for The Rose of Versailles. It was published in Japan in five tankōbon volumes from September 1982 to September 1984. In the manga’s credits, Henri Troyat is formally acknowledged as the original creator, providing the foundational historical source material upon which Ikeda’s dramatic interpretation was based. His original biography was also published in Japanese translation around the same period, making the source text accessible to the manga’s audience.

While Henri Troyat was a celebrated author in his own right, his significance in the manga industry is as an original source author. He did not directly write or illustrate manga, but his historical biography provided the narrative foundation for a significant work by a major manga artist, establishing his presence in the field through the adaptation of his literary work.