Jean-Charles Gervaise de Latouche

author

Jean-Charles Gervaise de Latouche

1715–1782

An 18th-century French writer and lawyer, best remembered for the bold, satirical novel Histoire de Dom B..., a book that stirred controversy in its own time. His work mixes sharp social observation with the playful, provocative spirit of the French Enlightenment.

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Le portier des Chartreux, ou mémoires de Saturnin écrits par lui-même

Le portier des Chartreux, ou mémoires de Saturnin écrits par lui-même

by Jean-Charles Gervaise de Latouche

About the author

Born in Amiens on November 26, 1715, Jean-Charles Gervaise de Latouche was a French writer who also worked as a lawyer at the Parlement de Paris under the Ancien Régime. Though not widely known today, he has remained of interest for the wit and audacity of his fiction.

He is most often associated with Histoire de Dom Bougre, portier des Chartreux, an 18th-century libertine and satirical novel that circulated anonymously and became notorious for its erotic frankness. The book’s mix of scandal, humor, and social criticism has kept his name alive in studies of French literature from the period.

Gervaise de Latouche died on November 28, 1782. For modern readers, he stands as a reminder that Enlightenment-era writing could be mischievous as well as philosophical, and that literary notoriety can outlast fame.