Born to a Greek father and a mother, he was orphaned in 1944 and had to interrupt his studies and support himself with various jobs.
He took up writing at an early age but did not consider his works fit for publishing until the late 1950s.
He gained notoriety with his 1962 play Lieutenant Tenant, but his later works were commercially unsuccessful.
A member of the French communist party in the 1950s, Gripari strongly distanced himself from communism after the 1956 Khrushchev report and gradually evolved towards unconventional political ideas which could be considered far right.
He died at St. Joseph hospital in Paris, following surgery, he was cremated at the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise 4 January 1991.