Eugène Berthoud

Born in Saint-Quentin on November 4, 1828, Eugène Berthoud was a French poet, feuilletonist, and novelist. French library records identify him more fully as Louis Eugène Henri Berthoud, and several sources note that he also wrote under the pseudonym Gontran Borys.

Accounts of his early life say he was orphaned young and brought to Paris, where he was raised by a relative. After studying literature and briefly working in banking, he turned toward journalism and fiction. He became known for works such as Secret de femme and Le Cousin du diable, writing in the energetic, serialized style that suited the newspapers and popular presses of his time.

Berthoud died in Paris on July 9, 1872. Although he is not widely read today, bibliographic and reference sources preserve him as part of the rich world of 19th-century French popular writing.