Laclos, Pierre-Ambroise-Francois Choderlos de

Laclos, Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de 

Born Oct. 18, 1741, in Amiens, department of Somme; died Sept. 5, 1803, in Taranto, Italy. French writer.

During the Great French Revolution, Laclos advocated the overthrow and execution of Louis XVI. He was a member of the Jacobin Club. He left works on history and military science. His novel in letters Les Liaisons Dangereuses (vols. 1–4, 1782; Russian translation, vols. 1–4, 1804–05) paints a vivid picture of the decay of aristocratic society on the eve of the revolution. Laclos was a master of the analytic novel and of sober psychological analysis. Stendhal considered Laclos’s novel the most significant work of 18th-century French literature.

WORKS

Lettres inédites. Paris, 1904.
In Russian translation:
Opasnye sviazi. Translated and with an article and commentary by N. Ia. Rykova. Moscow-Leningrad, 1965.

REFERENCES

Mann, G. “Shoderlo de Laklo.” In his book Soch., vol. 8. Moscow, 1959.
Vailland, R. Laclos par lui-même. Paris [1953].
Seylaz, J.-L. “Les Liaisons dangereuses” et la création romanesque chez Laclos. Geneva, 1958.

I. A. LILEEVA