Boris Gamaleya was born in 1930 in Saint-Louis, Île de la Réunion. In 1951, he moved to Aix-en-Provence, where he joined the French Communist Party. He returned to Réunion in 1955 and taught French in various colleges of the island until 1985. He lives in Réunion with his wife, the writer Clélie Gamaleya.
