Pierre Ryckmans

Pierre Ryckmans (28 September 1935 – 11 August 2014), also known by his pen name Simon Leys, was a Belgian-Australian diplomat, writer, sinologist, essayist and literary critic. He wrote in many language including Chinese, French and English. He wrote the novel "Chinese Shadows" ("Ombres Chinoises") in 1974 in French, which was later translated to English in 1977. He was also the Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney in Sydney, New South Wales from 1987 until 1993.
Ryckmans was born in Brussels. He studied Chinese culture, art and literature in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. He moved to Australia in 1970. He later taught Chinese in many universities all over the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. He was married and had four children.
Ryckmans died from cancer on 11 August 2014 in Sydney, aged 78.