Jorge Semprun obituary: Jorge Semprun, who wrote about his time in Buchenwald, dies at 87

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A free-form sculptor, John Chamberlain crafted works from masses of crushed cars and automobile sheet metal. He was 84. Full obituary (Librado Romero / Associated Press)

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A former dissident playwright, Havel was the revered first president of Czechoslovakia after it overthrew Communist rule in 1989. His slogan: “May truth and love triumph over lies and hatred.” He was 75. Full obituary (Petr David Josek / Associated Press)

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Hubert Sumlin‘s snarling guitar helped define Howlin’ Wolf‘s sound. Though Sumlin never attained a fraction of the fame of his celebrated boss, he is revered by fellow blues musicians. He was 80. Full obituary

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The daughter of stars Loretta Young and Clark Gable, Lewis wrote tenderly about her only meeting with Gable at age 15. Young, an unmarried, staunch Catholic, faked an adoption of Lewis, who did not learn the truth about her parentage until she was an adult. She had careers as an actress and a psychotherapist. She was 76. Full obituary (Jill Connelly / Associated Press)

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The heavyweight champ had epic bouts with Muhammad Ali. In 1971 he became the first fighter to defeat Ali, then lost two rematches. In his 37 professional fights, “Smokin’ Joe” won 32 times. But he never accepted his 1-2 record against Ali. He was 67. Full obituary

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Lillian Mobley, a tireless South Los Angeles activist, fought to establish the King/Drew hospital and its related medical school. Above, Mobley, right, looks on as Dr. George Locke greets Rep. Maxine Waters at King/Drew in 2004. She was 81. Full obituary

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The comedy writer and producer created “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Brady Bunch. “ He also wrote the memorable theme-song lyrics for both the wacky tale of a shipwrecked “three-hour tour” and the story of the marriage between a “lovely lady” with three daughters and “a man named Brady” with three sons. Above, Schwartz in 2008 receives kisses from Florence Henderson, who played Mrs. Brady, and Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on “Gilligan’s Island.” He was 94. Full obituary

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The saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen‘s E Street Band put his stamp on such Springsteen classics as “Born to Run” and “Rosalita.” He was known both for his full-throttle tenor sax work and his larger-than-life onstage persona as “the Big Man.” He was 69. Full obituary

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Pratt was a former Black Panther whose 1972 murder conviction was overturned after he spent 27 years behind bars for a crime he said he did not commit. He was 63. Full obituary

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The singer gained fame with her 1974 hit, “Poetry Man.” She received wide acclaim for her self-titled album, which showed off her multi-octave range and musical versatility. She had suffered a brain hemorrhage in January 2010. She was 60. Full obituary

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The legendary Norwegian runner became the face of the New York City Marathon, winning the race nine times. She also set four marathon world records. She was 57. Full obituary

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The biochemist won the 1976 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovering the hepatitis B virus, which causes severe liver disease and cancer. He later developed the vaccine that protects against it. He was 85. Full obituary

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Frank Buckles, the last American veteran of World War I, drove ambulances in France and later spent years in an internment camp after Japan’s invasion of the Philippines in WWII. He was 110. Full obituary

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The composer won five Oscars for films such as “Born Free” and “Out of Africa” and scored Bond films including “Goldfinger,” “Diamonds Are Forever” and “From Russia With Love.” His work on the Bond franchise put him in the forefront of music composers. He was 77. Full obituary

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Grannis photographs documented California surf culture of the 1960s and ‘70s. His images helped popularize and immortalize the sport -- and the life behind it -- at a crucial point in its history. “His photos captured the real thing,” wrote surfing journalist Steve Barilotti. He was 93. Full obituary (Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times)

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Sargent Shriver, a lawyer and Kennedy in-law, worked for JFK’s and Lyndon Johnson’s administrations. He launched social programs including the Peace Corps, Head Start and the Job Corps and led the “war on poverty.” Programs he created “still change people’s lives,” says daughter Maria Shriver. Above, with his wife Eunice in 1968. He was 95. Full obituary (Charles Harrity / Associated Press)

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The British director earned Academy Award nominations for “Breaking Away” and “The Dresser.” “Bullitt” was Yates’ American directing debut. It starred Steve McQueen as a detective and featured a memorable car chase on the streets of San Francisco with McQueen at the wheel of a Mustang. He was 81. Full obituary

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By Associated Press

June 9, 2011 12 AM PT

Jorge Semprun, a writer and politician who chronicled his experiences in the Nazis’ Buchenwald death camp, struggled against dictatorship in his native Spain and later became that country’s culture minister, has died. He was 87.

Semprun died Tuesday in Paris, where he had pent most of his life, the French capital’s mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, said in a statement.

A prolific author who specialized in the autobiographical novel, Semprun was widely considered one of the foremost chroniclers of the Holocaust. Equal parts memoir and essay, his “Literature or Life” (1994) elegantly describes his experience in Buchenwald, even as it ponders larger philosophical questions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the book, which was written in French, as “a testimony that’s as mind-blowing as it is lucid” and called Semprun “one of the last great protagonists of an epic.”

Semprun, who also wrote screenplays, was nominated for Academy Awards in 1968 for director Alain Resnais’ “La Guerre Est Finie” (“The War Is Over”) and in 1970 for “Z,” a political thriller co-written with director Costa-Gavras.

Semprun was born in Madrid in 1923, but the family fled the country during the country’s bloody civil war, settling in France. He was educated in Paris and wrote the bulk of his more than a dozen books in French.

A politically engaged young man and member of the Spanish Communist Party and the Resistance, Semprun was detained by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald. He spent more than a year in the camp — an experience that would inform much of his literary career, starting with his first book, “The Long Voyage” (1963).

Other Semprun works include “The Second Death of Ramon Mercader,” a 1969 novel which won France’s prestigious Femina literary prize, and “Twenty Years and a Day,” from 2004.

Upon his release from Buchenwald in 1945, Semprun worked as a translator at UNESCO and took part in the Spanish Communist Party’s long struggle against the nation’s longtime dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco. Semprun was ousted from the Communist Party in 1962 over ideological differences.

He was named Spain’s culture minister under Socialist Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, from 1988 to ’91.

news.obits@latimes.com