Laclos, Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos De

Related Category: French Literature: Biographies

(pyĕr äNbrwäz´ fräNswä´ shôdĕrlō´ də läklō´), 1741–1803, French novelist and general, known as Choderlos de Laclos. He is best known for Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782; tr. Dangerous Connections, 1784, and Dangerous Acquaintances, 1924), a novel in letter form of cynical seduction whose savage tone contrasted with the vogue for high moral sentiment established by Rousseau. Laclos was also the author of Poésies fugitives (1782) and collaborated on Galerie des États Généraux (1789). He commanded troops both under the Directory and under Napoleon.