Gregory David Roberts

Gregory David Roberts ( born 1952 in Melbourne as Gregory John Peter Smith) is an Australian author and convicted felon.

Life

Roberts was sentenced in 1978 for armed robbery to a 23- year prison sentence. Reason for the event was his heroin addiction and the resulting procurement pressure. According to the company Roberts became addicted as in 1976 he did not get custody of his then 3- year-old daughter after his divorce. After serving his sentence at HM Prison Pentridge Australian prison two years, he managed to escape by climbing with a fellow inmate at noon on the front wall. After a stopover in New Zealand, he settled in Mumbai, India. In 1990 he was arrested in Frankfurt and extradited to his homeland. He then spent six years in prison, two of them in solitary confinement. During this time he also began on his debut novel Shantaram to work based on his experiences in Mumbai.

The title of the partially autobiographical novel based on his nickname, which is awarded to him in the novel, from the mother of his best friend. The film rights were acquired in 2004 by actor Johnny Depp for the sum of $ 2 million. Roberts also wrote a screenplay of the novel Shantaram and another for the film Allegra.

Works

• Shantaram. Goldmann, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-442-31153-8.