Short answers, pulled from the story.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline was born on the 27th of May 1894 in Courbevoie, a suburb just outside Paris. His father worked as a middle manager for an insurance company while his mother ran a boutique selling antique lace.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline volunteered for the French army in 1912 and joined the 12th Cuirassier Regiment stationed in Rambouillet. He suffered a wound to his right arm near Ypres on the 25th of October 1914 after volunteering to deliver a message through heavy German fire.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline published his first novel Journey to the End of the Night in October 1932 under his pen name. The book won the Prix Renaudot but divided critics sharply over its pessimistic depiction of human suffering.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline published Bagatelles pour un massacre in December 1937 which was a book-length racist polemic advocating military alliance with Hitler's Germany. During the German occupation he continued expressing antisemitic views publicly and contributed letters to collaborationist press including many antisemitic statements.
Louis-Ferdinand Céline completed Rigadoon on the 30th of June 1961 but died at home from a ruptured aneurysm the following day. He lived until death in Meudon on the southwestern outskirts of Paris where he had bought a villa with his partner Lucette Almansor.