Economics teacher in an international high school on the Côte d’Azur, why did Guillaume Musso not stop this activity after his first successes?

This Saturday, June 6, 2026, Guillaume Musso celebrates his 52nd birthday. For the writer from Antibes, with 22 published novels and 34 million books sold, who has long dominated the ranking of the French’s favorite authors, education has always been at the center of concerns.

First, as a first childhood memory. The novelist recounted his “refusal to go to school” during an interview with Gala last April: “The start of the school year, for me, was heartbreaking. That of separation from my mother, my grandparents. I see myself again behind the school gate, trying to climb it to escape this hell.” And then, as a driving force for its future success: “I wanted to become a writer after winning a short story competition in second grade.”

It was then quite naturally that Guillaume Musso, son of a library director, began studying economics and flourished as a professor before considering making a living from his pen. With learning as a common thread throughout his career, he also inaugurated in 2024 a primary school in Juan-les-Pins which bears his name.
 

Guillaume Musso : “I like to teach my discipline, economics, in a lively way”
 

If he really decided to write at the age of 24, after a car accident which made him realize the importance of not putting off his childhood dreams until tomorrow, Guillaume Musso did not put an end to his teaching career, however.
 

In 2001, he released his first novel Skidamarinkto a mixed reception, and returned in 2004 with And after…the novel which will make him known to the general public and which will be adapted for the cinema in 2009 with the actors Romain Duris, John Malkovich and Evangeline Lilly. Despite this first success and new books: Save me in 2005, Will it be you? in 2006, Because I love you in 2007 and I’ll come back for you in 2008, Guillaume Musso did not want to leave his students and his position as economics teacher at the Lycée international de Valbonne.

He specified this choice on France 3 Marseille, in October 2006: “Because I love my job, because I chose it long before being recognized as a writer. I like to teach my discipline, economics, in a lively way. I like being able to ensure that students find meaning in what they learn. I think that one of the current problems of school is that we have somewhat removed this idea of meaning, education only works if the students find a purpose and a goal in what they are going to learn and not simply consider it as a chore.”

After teaching from 1999 to 2003 in a high school in Moselle, being a trainer at the University Teacher Training Institute (IUFM) in Lorraine then holding a class from 2004 to 2008 within the walls of the Valbonne International Campus (CIV), Guillaume Musso finally decided to make himself available in order to devote himself 100% to literature.
 

With his heart beating for two professions, he will define himself as a writer until further notice, although he idealizes neither this profession nor fame: “Success does not bring a peaceful state. With each novel, I start from scratch. I am always in the unknown (…) When I started selling books, I was thirty years old. I was already built. You know, the notoriety of a writer is very relative. I’m in the spotlight three weeks a year, time to promote my book. The rest of the year, I’m not seen anywhere. he confided to Morning run in April 2014.

Decorated with the medal of the city of Antibes, Guillaume Musso no longer lives on the Cote d’Azur but in Paris, where he has two separate apartments: one for the family, where he enjoys his wife and children, the other to work on his manuscripts. The one who now manages a colossal fortune maintains a privileged link with the school since he claims to take care of his children’s homework, and has a brother, Valentin Musso, an Antibes writer also, who also taught: French and Latin in a regional college.