August French historical writer Henri Troyat has died at the age of 95, France's Académie Française announced Monday.

The Académie, a French-language cultural body, said Troyat died in Paris on Friday.

Russian-born writer Henri Troyat is seen in this 1980 file photo in Paris.
(Pierre Verdy/Associated Press)

The prolific and prize-winning Troyat was an acclaimed author of more than 100 works, largely novels and biographies. He continued to write until the end: since 2004, he had published at least five new works, including a book about The Three Musketeers author Alexandre Dumas and a novel entitled La Traque (The Hunt).

Though he was born in Moscow in 1911, Troyat fled with his family from revolutionary Russia in 1917. After a three-year journey, they arrived and settled in Paris, where he was raised and studied law.

Troyat published his first novel in 1935. Just three years later, he won France's top literary honour, the Prix Goncourt, for his novel L'Araigne. In 1940, he dedicated himself completely to his writing career.

Though he never returned to Russia, Troyat often wrote about the country's icons, including Leo Tolstoy, Catherine the Great, Rasputin, Ivan the Terrible and Anton Chekhov. His oeuvre also included examinations of great French authors, including Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant and Émile Zola.

In 1959, he was elected a member of the esteemed Académie Française — the venerable body that advises the country on matters concerning the French language.

He published his memoirs, entitled Such a long road, in 1976.

French President Jacques Chirac praised Troyat as a "giant of French letters," while Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said "Thanks to him, the Russian novel has become a bit French."

With files from the Associated Press.