Born in Paris, France, Druon was the son of Russian-Jewish[1] immigrant Lazare Kessel (1899–1920)[2] and was brought up at La Croix-Saint-Leufroy in Normandy and educated at the lycée Michelet de Vanves.

He was the nephew of the writer Joseph Kessel, with whom he translated the "Chant des Partisans", a French Resistance anthem of World War II, with music and words (in Russian) originally by Anna Marly.

In 1948 Druon received the Prix Goncourt for his novel Les Grandes Familles [fr], and later published two sequels.

While his scholarly writing earned him a seat at the Académie, Druon is best known for a series of seven historical novels published in the 1950s under the title Les Rois maudits (The Accursed Kings).

The novels were adapted for French television in 1972, gaining a wider audience through overseas sales, and again in 2005, starring Jeanne Moreau.