Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux

Born in Paris on February 4, 1688, Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux became one of the major French playwrights of the 18th century. He is commonly known simply as Marivaux, and he also wrote novels and worked as a journalist.

He is especially remembered for comedies written for the Comédie-Italienne and the Comédie-Française, where he explored attraction, class, disguise, and the small shifts of feeling that can change a life. Among his best-known works are The Game of Love and Chance and False Confidences, and his writing became so distinctive that French critics coined the term marivaudage for its subtle, playful language.

Marivaux died in Paris on February 12, 1763. Long after his lifetime, his work has remained central to French literature and theater because it combines elegance, psychological insight, and a sharp sense of how people speak when they are hiding — or discovering — what they truly feel.