André Jean Maillaud is the son of Jean Arthur Maillaud (1864–1911), a former soldier who worked in public finance after an accident in 1891, and of Léa Ernestine Binet. Married in 1909, the couple had several children: André Jean, Andrée Jeanne (1906–1911) and Yvon Jean (1907–1960), a hotel concierge in Paris. Another sister, Yvonne, is mentioned in André Jean Maillaud’s writings, although her existence has not been confirmed by archives.
André Jean Maillaud appears to have lived most of his life in Paris, notably at 34 rue Popincourt (11th arrondissement), at least from 1930 onward. After his military service in the infantry, he worked as a glass engraver. No marriage or descendants are recorded.
Found on a sidewalk, when it was destined for the trash, this collection consists of more than a hundred colored pencil drawings and seven handwritten notebooks. The earliest documents, dated 1955, testify to intense physical and psychological suffering. From the 1960s onward, a structured delusional narrative develops in which the author believes himself to be an heir to the kings of France, identifying in particular with Louis XV.
His writings also reveal a marked interest in cinema, chess, and, more broadly, in wordplay. The whole forms a singular system in which text and image intertwine, personal memory and historical references, with a recurring presence of the World War II.
It is not established that André Jean Maillaud was ever hospitalized in a psychiatric institution.
However, certain mentions in his drawings suggest, without certainty, a possible administrative internment at the Hôpital Sainte-Anne.