Louis Boussenard

Born in France in 1847, Louis Henri Boussenard studied medicine in Paris before turning to journalism and popular fiction. During the Franco-Prussian War he served as an auxiliary doctor, an experience often noted in accounts of his life and one that helps explain the brisk, action-minded tone found in much of his writing.

He became a prolific author of adventure novels, many of them published for a broad popular audience in periodicals such as Le Journal des voyages. His stories often mix exotic settings, survival, exploration, and scientific curiosity, and he was sometimes described in his lifetime as a French counterpart to other great adventure writers of the era.

Although less widely read in France today, Boussenard remained especially popular in parts of Eastern Europe. He died in Orléans in 1910, but his novels still carry the restless, globe-trotting excitement that made him a favorite with generations of adventure readers.