French filmmaker Éric Rohmer, one of the key figures in the post-war New Wave cinema movement alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut, has died at the age of 89.

Rohmer was born Maurice Schérer in Nancy, France, and began his working life as a teacher before going on to become a journalist and writer, co-founding short lived review publication La Gazette Du Cinema, and editing film magazine Cahiers du Cinema. During the fifties, he made a number of short films, and in 1959 released his first feature 'Le Signe Du Lion', but it was not a commercial success. His career gained momentum, however with his cycle of films, Six Moral Tales; the third film in that series, 'Ma Nuit Chez Maud', released in 1969, brought him international recognition and a number of awards and nominations.

Awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2001 for his life's work, Rohmer stayed active until 2007 when his final film, 'The Romance of Astrea and Celedon' was released. French President Nicolas Sarkozy of France paid tribute yesterday, saying: "Classic and romantic, wise and iconoclastic, light and serious, sentimental and moralistic, he created the 'Rohmer' style, which will outlive him".

He is survived by his wife and two sons, and his brother, philosopher and academic René Schérer.