Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
French novelist, official and army general (1741–1803)
Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos (French: [pjɛʁ ɑ̃bʁwaz fʁɑ̃swa ʃɔdɛʁlo də laklo]; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, Freemason and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) (1782).
A unique case in French literature, he was for a long time considered to be as scandalous a writer as the Marquis de Sade or Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne. He was a military officer with no illusions about human relations, and an amateur writer; his initial plan was to "write a work which departed from the ordinary, which made a noise, and which would remain on earth after his death"; from this point of view he mostly attained his goals with the fame of his masterwork Les Liaisons dangereuses. It is one of the great examples of novelistic literature of the 18th century, that explores the amorous intrigues of the aristocracy. It has inspired many critical and analytic commentaries, plays and films.
Biography
Born in Amiens into a bourgeois family, in 1761 Laclos began studies at the School of Artillery of La Fère, ancestor of the École Polytechnique. As a young lieutenant, he briefly served in a garrison at La Rochelle until the end of the Seven Years' War (1763). Postings to Strasbourg (1765–1769), Grenoble (1769–1775) and Besançon (1775–1776) followed.
In 1763 Laclos became a Freemason in "L'Union" military lodge in Toul.
Despite a promotion to the rank of captain (1771) Laclos grew increasingly bored with his artillery garrison duties and with the company of soldiers; he began to devote his free time to writing.
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