Annie Cohen-Solal was born in Algeria. She is currently Professeur des Universités at the Université de Caen Basse Normandies and Visiting Scholar at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. She first came to New York in 1989 as the Cultural Counselor to the French Embassy in the United States, after her Sartre biography, Sartre: A Life, had become an international best seller. Her encounter with Leo Castelli prompted her to shift her interest to the art world. After winning the Prix Bernier of the Académie des Beaux-Arts for Painting American (Alfred A. Knopf) in 2001, she was awarded the ArtCurial Prize for the best contemporary art book for Leo Castelli & les siens; (Gallimard, Paris). The American version Leo & His Circle was published by Alfred A. Knopf in May 2010, the Italian one Leo & C. Storia di Leo Castelli was published by Johan & Levi in December 2010, the Dutch version Leo Castelli, En Zijn Kunstenaars-Kring in New York was published in Summer 2011, and the Spanish version, El galerista, Leo Castelli y su circulo, in Fall 2011. On June 22nd 2009, she was awarded the of Honor of the French Government by Ambassador to the United States Pierre Vimont. She lives in Paris and Cortona.