author
comte de Arthur Gobineau
1816–1882
A French diplomat and novelist, he is remembered both for his fiction and travel writing and for a racial theory that later fed some of the most destructive ideas in modern history. His life moved between embassies, salons, and long postings abroad, giving his work a wide, often unsettling range.
5 Audiobooks
The inequality of human races
by comte de Arthur Gobineau
La fleur d'or
by comte de Arthur Gobineau
Kaukaasialainen tanssijatar
by comte de Arthur Gobineau
Nouvelles Asiatiques
by comte de Arthur Gobineau
About the author
Born in France on July 14, 1816, Joseph Arthur de Gobineau became a diplomat, writer, and man of letters whose career took him to posts in places including Switzerland, Persia, Greece, and Brazil. Alongside political service, he wrote novels, essays, and historical and ethnographic works shaped by those travels.
He is most widely known for An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (1853–1855), a work that argued for racial hierarchy and later influenced racist thought in Europe. That legacy makes him a deeply controversial figure today, and any account of his work needs to be read with that harm clearly in view.
At the same time, Gobineau also wrote fiction and shorter prose, including the Asiatic Tales, which drew on his interest in Persian history and culture. He died in Turin, Italy, on October 13, 1882.