In a newly published memoir, French author Emmanuel Carrère delves into the complex life of his mother, Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, tracing her extraordinary journey from a stateless refugee child to one of France’s most prominent intellectuals. The book, titled *Kolkhoz*, offers a detailed portrait of Hélène’s life and legacy, intertwining personal family history with broader historical and political contexts.
Hélène Carrère d’Encausse was born in Paris in 1929 to parents who had fled the upheavals of the 1917 Russian Revolution. Her mother was a Russian-German aristocrat, and her father, Georges Zurabishvili, hailed from the Georgian bourgeoisie. Despite their noble lineage, the family lived in poverty, and Georges’s fate was tragic—after supporting the Germans during World War II due to his anti-communist stance, he was reportedly abducted and likely executed by French resistance members. This event profoundly affected the family and shaped Hélène’s worldview.
Overcoming these early hardships, Hélène rose to prominence as a leading scholar of Russian and Soviet affairs. She authored influential works such as *Decline of an Empire* (1979), which anticipated the Soviet Union’s collapse, largely attributing it to demographic changes in Central Asia. Hélène broke new ground as the first woman to lead the Académie Française, France’s premier literary institution. Known for her intellect, ambition, and determined character, she maintained a complex personal life, staying married to her husband—an insurance executive—even as their relationship cooled.
The memoir recounts a dramatic episode from 1958, when Hélène was returning to France from Uzbekistan and found herself nearly held captive by the flight’s Afghan pilot, who intended to marry her and adopt her infant son, Emmanuel. She escaped the situation with aid workers’ help, an episode her son often reflected upon, considering how differently their lives might have unfolded.
Carrère’s *Kolkhoz*—a term connoting Soviet collective farms—symbolizes both Hélène’s feigned academic assignments in Uzbekistan and the communal living conditions she imposed on her children, who slept in her bedroom on mattresses in a setting she likened to a kolkhoz. The book, published in France in 2025, received critical acclaim, including a shortlist nomination for the Prix Goncourt and winning the Prix Médicis.
The narrative intertwines genealogical detail and personal anecdotes, revealing the various dimensions of Hélène’s identity, as well as Emmanuel Carrère’s own reflections. He shares intimate memories of his mother’s complexities, from her icy demeanor toward her husband to her political miscalculations, notably her erroneous belief that Vladimir Putin would not invade Ukraine. The memoir also explores Carrère’s own struggles with family secrets, including the disclosure of his grandfather’s controversial wartime affiliations.
Carrère’s writing is noted for its blend of introspection and journalistic rigor, capturing both private sorrow and broader historical currents. The book’s English translation, rendered by John Lambert, preserves its nuanced tone and draws on Carrère’s continuing engagement with Russian history and politics. Through *Kolkhoz*, Carrère offers a compelling examination of a woman who embodied the tumult and contradictions of 20th-century Europe while leaving a lasting imprint on French cultural life.