François SZULMAN was born on June 5th 1931 in
Paris in a working family of immigrants from Poland. The setting for
his childhood years was the old streets of Belleville.
His father was, in turn, a knitting worker and then a garment worker.
François, being an only son, his mother lavished him with her love and affection.
When war broke out in 1939, his father volunteered in the French army
while he attended the public school of Rue Armand Carrel. Young,
François SZULMAN was in junior high school when he was arrested
with his mother during the mass arrests of July 16th 1942, but being a
war prisoner's family, they were released.
After, obliged to hide to escape persecution by the nazis, he broke off
his primary schooling. His mother not authorised to enter an hospital,
died on Christmas Eve 1943 due to a lack of medical care.
With the liberation of France he was at last able to return to school, where his gifts for drawing began to develop.
In 1946, François SZULMAN was accepted at the Paris college of applied Arts.
These were difficult times... He had to abandon his studies and worked in a knitting factory.
In 1950, he married a young girl born like himself in Belleville.
The marriage was blessed by the birth of two children, a boy and a girl.
During these years, despite his trade as garment cutter, whenever he could, very often at night, he painted.
His first exhibition at Gallery Regis LANGLOYS in 1967 was a distinct success.
There after, Galleries and Art collectors became constantly more
attracted to his work and he was a last able to devote himself
exclusively to painting.