vicomte de Gabriel Joseph de Lavergne Guilleragues

Born in Bordeaux in 1628, Guilleragues was educated at the Collège de Navarre and later studied law in Paris. He moved in literary and political circles, serving in royal administration and at one point directing the Gazette de France.

He is most often remembered as the likely author of Lettres portugaises (1669), published anonymously and long discussed as one of the great literary puzzles of the period. Modern reference works generally credit him with the book, whose intense voice and emotional force helped keep his name alive.

Later in life he was appointed ambassador to the Ottoman court. He died in Constantinople in 1685, leaving behind a small but enduring place in French literary history.