Born: 2 June 1740 · Died: 2 December 1814 · Age: 74
French aristocrat and writer whose scandalous, violent novels such as Justine made his name the root of the word sadism
Did you know?He spent around 30 years of his life in various prisons and insane asylums, where he wrote many of his books.
Quick facts
Date of birth2 June 1740
Date of death2 December 1814
Age at death74
Cause of deathInfectious disease
NationalityFrench
BirthplaceParis, France
Occupationnovelist, philosopher, playwright
Editor's Take:
The Marquis de Sade spent much of his life in prison and gave his name to sadism. He was born into one of France's oldest noble families and served as a cavalry officer in the Seven Years' War. Scandals over his treatment of servants and prostitutes led to repeated arrests. A sentence of death for poisoning and sodomy was later overturned, but he was held for years in Vincennes and the Bastille. In prison he wrote The 120 Days of Sodom on a long roll of paper. Freed during the Revolution, he briefly served as a radical official. Under Napoleon he was locked up again and died in the asylum at Charenton. His violent, philosophical writings were banned for over a century and later studied by surrealists and philosophers.
Key Milestones
1778: Imprisoned at Vincennes
1785: Writes The 120 Days of Sodom in the Bastille
1791: Publishes Justine
1803: Confined at the Charenton asylum
Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade ( SA(H)D; French:; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814) was a French writer, libertine, political activist, and nobleman best known for his libertine novels and imprisonment for sex crimes, blasphemy, and pornography.
