January Scholars in France 2007

Sur les traces du Marquis de Sade

The Marquis de Sade (Donatien Alphonse François de Sade) was a popular writer of philosophical texts and violent pornography in the late 1700s. He was born on June 2, 1740, at the Hotel de Conde, in the 6th arrondissement. At the age of 10, he attended the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, a Jesuit school, and when he was seventeen, he participated in the Seven Years War. In 1763, he married Renée-Pélagie de Montreuil, but not too long afterward, he sexually abused several young prostitutes and was arrested. It was while in prison that he began to write some of his most famous pornographic literature. After he was liberated from the Bastille in April of 1790, he was re-imprisoned for writing even more outrageous literature. He died while in house arrest at Maison de santé de Charenton in the region now known as Saint-Maurice.

For my "Sur le traces" project, I visited Rue de Conde, where Hotel de Conde once stood. Next, I visited l'Eglise Saint Sulpice, the church where Sade was baptized.

After that, I visited the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, but was kicked out because it was private property.

Close by was La Madeleine, the church where Sade's children were baptized.

Then I visited the Place des Victoires, where Sade was accused of raping a prostitute.

Finally, I went to the Chateau de Vincennes, where Sade was imprisoned.

— Jerry