memoir

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
memoir /ˈmɛmwɑː/

▶noun

• 1 a historical account or biography written from personal knowledge.

  ■ (memoirs) an account written by a public figure of their life and experiences.

• 2 an essay on a learned subject.

  ■ (memoirs) the proceedings of a learned society.

– derivatives
memoirist noun.

– origin C15 (denoting a memorandum): from Fr. mémoire (masc.), a special use of mémoire (fem.) ‘memory’.