View source for Pierre Choderlos de Laclos

{{short description|French novelist, official, freemason, and army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name             = Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
| image            = Laclos.jpg
| caption          = <div style="text-align:center;">Portrait attributed to [[Alexander Kucharsky]]<br /></div>
| birth_name       = Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1741|10|18|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Amiens]], [[Picardy]], [[Kingdom of France]]
| nationality      = French
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1803|9|5|1741|10|18|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Taranto]], [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]
| occupation       = Writer, official and army general
| genre            = 
| movement         = 
| spouse           = 
| children         = 
| influences       = 
| influenced       = 
| awards           = 
| notable_works    = ''[[Les Liaisons dangereuses]]''
}}

'''Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos''' ({{IPA|fr|pjɛʁ ɑ̃bʁwaz fʁɑ̃swa ʃɔdɛʁlo də laklo|lang}}; 18 October 1741 – 5 September 1803) was a French novelist, official, [[Freemason]] and army general, best known for writing the [[epistolary novel]] ''[[Les Liaisons dangereuses]]'' (''Dangerous Liaisons'') (1782).

A unique case in French literature, he was for a long time considered to be as scandalous a writer as the [[Marquis de Sade]] or [[Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne]]. He was a military officer with no illusions about human relations, and an amateur writer; however, his initial plan was to "write a work which departed from the ordinary, which made a noise, and which would remain on earth after his death"; from this point of view he mostly attained his goals with the fame of his masterwork ''Les Liaisons dangereuses''. It is one of the masterpieces of novelistic literature of the 18th century, which explores the amorous intrigues of the aristocracy. It has inspired many critical and analytic commentaries, plays and films.

==Biography==
Born in [[Amiens]] into a [[Bourgeoisie|bourgeois]] family, in 1761 Laclos began studies at the School of Artillery of La Fère, ancestor of the [[École Polytechnique]].<ref>(Pascale Hellégouarc’h,  ''Gallica: Les essentiels Littérature''</ref> As a young lieutenant, he briefly served in a garrison at [[La Rochelle]] until the end of the [[Seven Years' War]] (1763). Postings to [[Strasbourg]] (1765–1769), [[Grenoble]] (1769–1775) and [[Besançon]] (1775–1776) followed.

In 1763 Laclos became a [[Freemason]] in "L'Union" military lodge in [[Toul]].<ref>''Dictionnaire Universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie'' (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc CARA – ed. Larousse 2011)</ref>

Despite a promotion to the rank of captain (1771), Laclos grew increasingly bored with his artillery garrison duties and with the company of soldiers; he began to devote his free time to writing. His first works, several light poems, appeared in the ''[[Almanach des Muses]]''. Later he wrote the libretto for an [[opéra comique]], ''Ernestine'', inspired by a novel by [[Marie Jeanne Riccoboni]]. The music was composed by the Chevalier de Saint Georges. Its premiere on 19 July 1777, in the presence of Queen [[Marie Antoinette]], proved a failure. In the same year, he established a new artillery school in [[Valence, Drôme|Valence]], which would include [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] among its students in the mid-1780s. On his return to Besançon in 1778 Laclos was promoted second captain of the Engineers. In this period he wrote several works which showed his great admiration of [[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]].

In 1776 Laclos requested and received affiliation with the "Henri IV" lodge in Paris. There he helped [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans]] leading the [[Grand Orient of France]].<ref>''Ce que la France doit aux francs-maçons'' (Laurent Kupferman and Emmanuel Pierrat – Grund ed. 2012)</ref> In 1777, in front of the Grand Orient's dignitaries, he delivered a speech in which he urged the initiation of women into [[Freemasonry]].<ref>''Dictionnaire Universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie'', p. 181 (Marc de Jode, Monique Cara and Jean-Marc Cara – ed. Larousse 2011)</ref>

In 1779, he was sent to [[Île-d'Aix]] (in present-day [[Charente-Maritime]]) to assist [[Marc René, marquis de Montalembert]] in the construction of fortifications there against the British. However, he spent most of his time writing his new [[epistolary novel]], ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'', as well as a ''Letter to Madame de Montalembert''. When he asked for and received six months of vacation, he spent the time in Paris, writing.

Durand Neveu published ''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' in four volumes on 23 March 1782; it became a widespread success:  1,000 copies sold in a month, an exceptional result for the time. Laclos was immediately ordered to return to his garrison in [[Brittany]]; in 1783 he was sent to [[La Rochelle]] to collaborate in the construction of the new arsenal. Here he met Marie-Soulange Duperré, whom he would marry on 3 May 1786,<ref>[https://fr.pinterest.com/pin/294634000604982810/ "Marie-Soulange Duperré"] ''[[Pinterest]]'' retrieved March 1, 2017</ref> and remain with for the rest of his life. The following year, he began a project of numbering the streets of [[Paris]].

In 1788, Laclos left the army, entering the service of [[Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans|Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans]], for whom, after the outbreak of the [[French Revolution]] in 1789, he carried out intense diplomatic activity.{{clarify|date=July 2016}} In 1790/91 he was the editor of "''Journal des amis de la constitution''", connected with the [[Feuillant (political group)|Feuillants]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archives.calvados.fr/ark:/52329/76pblsn1zkvg/7541b8df-11a0-405e-ad20-cdc25f1d8dba|title=Journal des amis de la Constitution 13T/8/43 |website=Archives du Calvados}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|publisher=Société des amis de la constitution monarchique  |date=1790-12-18 |title=Journal de la Société des amis de la constitution monarchique |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1054440p |access-date=2023-07-10 |website=Gallica |language=EN}}</ref> Captured by Republican ideals, he left the Duke to obtain a place as commissar in the Ministry of War. His reorganization has been credited{{by whom|date=July 2016}} as having a role in the [[French Revolutionary Army]]'s victory in the [[Battle of Valmy]] (20 September 1792). Later, however, after the desertion (April 1793) of general [[Charles François Dumouriez]], he was arrested as an [[Orléanist|''Orleaniste'']], being freed after the [[Thermidorian Reaction]] of 27 July 1794.

He thenceforth spent some time in ballistic studies, which led him to the invention of the modern artillery [[shell (projectile)|shell]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gillispie |first1=Charles Coulston |year=1992 |title=Science and Secret Weapons Development in Revolutionary France, 1792-1804: A Documentary History |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |volume=23 |issue=1 |page=105 |doi=10.2307/27757692|jstor=27757692 }}</ref> In 1795 he requested reinstatement in the Army by the [[Committee of Public Safety]]; the  request was ignored. His attempts to obtain a diplomatic position and to found a bank also proved unsuccessful. Eventually, Laclos met the young general and recently appointed (November 1799) [[First Consul]], Napoleon Bonaparte, and joined his party. On 16 January 1800 he was reinstated in the Army as Brigadier General in the [[Army of the Rhine (France)|Army of the Rhine]]; he took part in the [[Battle of Biberach (1800)|Battle of Biberach]] (9 May 1800).

Made commander-in-chief of Reserve Artillery in Italy (1803), Laclos died shortly afterward in the former convent of St. [[Francis of Assisi]] at [[Taranto]], probably of [[dysentery]] and [[malaria]]. He was buried in the fort still bearing his name (Forte de Laclos) in the Isola di San Paolo near the city, built under his direction. Following the restoration of the [[House of Bourbon]] in [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies|southern Italy]] in 1815, his burial tomb was destroyed; it is believed{{by whom|date=July 2016}} that his bones were tossed into the sea.

==Bibliography==

=== Novels ===
* ''[[Les Liaisons dangereuses]]'' (1782)

=== Poems ===
* ''Poésies fugitives''&nbsp;(1783)

=== Plays ===
* ''Ernestine'' (1777, opéra comique)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alalettre.com/laclos-oeuvres.php|title=Pierre Choderlos de Laclos (Œuvres) - aLaLettre|website=www.alalettre.com|accessdate=10 July 2023}}</ref>

=== Non-fiction ===
* ''Des Femmes et de leur éducation'' (1783)
* ''Folies philosophiques par un homme retiré du monde''&nbsp;(1784)
* ''Instructions aux assemblées de bailliage'' (1789)
* ''Journal des amis de la Constitution'' (1790–1791)
* ''De la guerre et de la paix'' (1795)
* ''Continuation des causes secrètes de la révolution du neuf thermidor''&nbsp;(1795)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* {{Cite book|first=Jean-Paul |last=Bertaud|title= Choderlos de Laclos l'auteur des Liaisons dangereuses|location= Paris|publisher=Fayard|year=2003|isbn=2-213-61642-6}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* ''The Dangerous Memoir of Citizen Sade'' (2000) by [[A. C. H. Smith]] (A [[biographical novel]], an account of the period of the Terror in the French Revolution, told by two writers who were incarcerated together and loathed each other: Laclos and the [[Marquis de Sade]].)
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisourcelang|fr|Les Liaisons dangereuses|Dangerous Liaisons}}
* {{StandardEbooks|Standard Ebooks URL=https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/pierre-choderlos-de-laclos}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Pierre Choderlos de Laclos}}
* {{Librivox author |id=4201}}
* {{Gutenberg author|id=43328}}

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{{Les Liaisons dangereuses}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Choderlos De Laclos, Pierre}}
[[Category:1741 births]]
[[Category:1803 deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from dysentery]]
[[Category:First French Empire]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:French military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:French generals]]
[[Category:French military writers]]
[[Category:18th-century French novelists]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in Apulia]]
[[Category:Military leaders of the French Revolutionary Wars]]
[[Category:People from Amiens]]
[[Category:French Freemasons]]
[[Category:French male novelists]]
[[Category:Deaths from malaria]]
[[Category:18th-century French letter writers]]
[[Category:Films based on works by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos|*]]