Claude-Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon

Born in Paris on February 13, 1707, Claude-Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon was a French novelist and playwright best known as Crébillon fils, a nickname that set him apart from his father, the tragedian Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon. He was educated at Louis-le-Grand and became known for elegant, often provocative stories about love, intrigue, and aristocratic life.

His most famous books include Le Sopha and Les Égarements du cœur et de l'esprit. These works helped make him one of the standout voices in 18th-century libertine fiction, admired for his polished style, playful irony, and eye for the rituals of fashionable society.

Crébillon fils died in Paris on April 12, 1777. Today he is remembered less for grand moral lessons than for the intelligence and sparkle of his writing, which offers a vivid glimpse into the pleasures and pretenses of his age.