Charles-Antoine-Guillaume Pigault de l'Espinoy, better known as Pigault-Lebrun, (8 April 1753 – 24 July 1835) was a French novelist, playwright, and

Epicurean Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded 307 BCE based upon the teachings of Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher. Epicurus was an atomist and materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His materialism led him to religious s ...

. Victor Hugo references Pigault-Lebrun in chapter I part 8 of Les Misérables, describing a senator as "probably a product of Pigault-le Brun."

Life

He was born at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

; he is said to have traced his pedigree on the mother's side to Eustache de Saint Pierre. His youth was stormy. He twice carried off young ladies of some position, and was in consequence twice imprisoned by ''

lettre de cachet ''Lettres de cachet'' (; ) were letters signed by the king of France, countersigned by one of his ministers, and closed with the royal seal. They contained orders directly from the king, often to enforce actions and judgments that could not b ...

''. The first, a Miss Crawford, the daughter of an English merchant whose office Pigault had entered, died almost immediately after her

elopement Elopement is a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, sometimes involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting married without parental approval. A ...

; the second, Mlle de Salens, he married. He became a soldier in the Queen's Guards, then a very unsuccessful actor, and a teacher of French. At the breaking out of the great war he re-enlisted and fought at

Valmy Valmy () is a rural Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department in the Grand Est Regions of France, region in Northeastern France. In 2020, it had a population of 282. Geography The town stands ...

. He wrote more than twenty plays, and a large number of novels, the first of which appeared in 1787. In his old age he took to graver work, and executed an abridgment of French history in eight volumes, besides some other work. His ''Œuvres complètes'' were published in twenty volumes between 1822 and 1824, but much of his work is subsequent to this collection. The style of Pigault's novels is lively and rich, and the morality is very far from severe. As almost the father of a kind of literature which later developed enormously, Pigault-Lebrun deserves a certain place in literary history. Among the most celebrated of his novels may be mentioned ''L'Enfant du Carnaval'' (1792) and ''Angelique et Jeanneton de la place Maubert'' (1799). His ''Citateur'' (2 vols., 1803), a collection of quotations against

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, was forbidden and yet several times reprinted.

References

External links

* * 1753 births 1835 deaths People from Calais 18th-century French novelists 19th-century French novelists People imprisoned by lettre de cachet French male novelists 19th-century French male writers 18th-century French male writers {{France-playwright-stub