F. H. (François Henri) Turpin

Born in Caen in 1709, François-Henri Turpin began as a professor at the university there before heading to Paris. In the capital he became active in literary and philosophical circles, including the circle around Helvétius, and made his living largely through his pen.

Turpin is generally described as a French man of letters, historian, and translator. His works include historical and biographical writing, and he is especially associated with La France illustre, ou Le Plutarque français, a multi-volume collection devoted to notable French figures. He also wrote Histoire naturelle et civile du royaume de Siam (1771), a work later noted for drawing on another observer's accounts.

He died in 1799. Modern reference sources remember him less as a canonical stylist than as a prolific eighteenth-century compiler whose books reflect the broad curiosity and energetic publishing culture of his time.