Éric Deroo, born in Paris on 15 February 1952, is married to Gabrielle Bartouilh de Taillac and is the father of three children.

After studying at the Saint-Cyr Military School, he was admitted to the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. From 1975 to 1981, he worked as an assistant to the filmmaker Robert Bresson before launching his own career as a director.

Over the years, he has written, directed, or produced more than 40 documentary films, broadcast by both French and international television networks. Many of these works have been selected for major international festivals and received prestigious awards, including the Grand Prize for Historical Documentary in Rome, awards from the French Navy in Toulon, the Ethnographic Film Committee in Paris, as well as prizes from festivals in Saint Petersburg, Ukraine, the USA, and Canada.

In 2010, he co-directed with Jacques Perrin the feature-length film L’Empire du Milieu du Sud, dedicated to Vietnam.

He is also the author or co-author of nearly 50 publications, released by leading French publishing houses and translated internationally.

In November 2001, he became an associate researcher with the CNRS’s G.D.R. 23/22 group on the Anthropology of Body Representations, and since July 2009, he has been affiliated with UMR 7268, the Unit of Biocultural Anthropology.

Éric Deroo has produced several films and books on the history of military health services and tropical diseases. A significant part of his research has focused on the Francophone overseas world, particularly in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and the Comoros.

He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Museum of the Troupes de Marine and a founding member of the French National Council for the Rights of Overseas Veterans. Since 2007, under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, he has led a mission titled “Memory of African, Malagasy, and Comorian Soldiers”. This initiative includes the creation of documentation centers, film screenings, exhibitions, books, and school textbooks aimed at honoring the contributions of these soldiers and raising awareness among both African and European audiences.

A former member of the French National History House (Maison d’Histoire de France), he also served as chief curator for several major exhibitions, including Plans and Reliefs at the Grand Palais 1668–1870 in January 2012.

Since the early 1990s, Éric Deroo has collaborated with the Sovereign Order of Malta and its representations in France, Asia, and Africa. His work includes the establishment of humanitarian information structures (notably in Togo), the organization of meetings, partnerships, and multimedia projects.

Appointed Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta to the Union of the Comoros in 2013 and to the Republic of Togo in 2018, he was invested as a Knight of Magistral Grace of the Sovereign Order of Malta in 2015.

He holds the rank of Colonel in the Citizen Reserve, and has received numerous honors, including:

• Knight of the Legion of Honour
• Knight of the Order of Academic Palms
• Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters
• Officer of the Order of Agricultural Merit
• Volunteer Military Service Medal
• Medal of Honor of the Army Medical Service
• Grand Croix pro Merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Order of Malta
• Grand Officer pro Merito Melitensi of the Sovereign Order of Malta
• Officer of the Order of Mono (Togo)
• Officer of the Order of Croissant Vert des Comores
• And several other foreign decorations.