Marquis de Sade

Marquis de Sade, a wealthy nobleman born with the title rather than a birthname, emerged as a notorious decadent libertine within the French society of Louis XVI. A liberally educated iconoclast, he demonstrated his mastery of prose and verse, and specialized in pushing the boundaries of decency, shattering taboos, and shocking the aristocracy with explicit details drawn from his own life experiences. His writings were often criticized for their graphic and disturbing content, leading many to speculate that he had personally committed the very acts he described in his works. Prior to the French Revolution, De Sade was confined to an asylum, where he spent a decade in a state of feverish creativity, producing a vast amount of writing. Eventually, he abandoned his literary pursuits and spent the remainder of his life in a state of calm and quiet, uneventful years that stood in stark contrast to his earlier life of excess and debauchery. Over the years, De Sade has been portrayed in various film and television productions by notable actors such as Daniel Auteuil, Stuart Devenie, Keir Dullea, Robert Englund, Klaus Kinski, Patrick Magee, Nick Mancuso, Geoffrey Rush, Brother Theodore, and Conrad Veidt.