Sade, Donatien Alphonse Francois, Marquis de

Marquis de Sade, French author and philosopher, 1740-1814

Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts. In his lifetime some of these were published under his own name while others appeared anonymously. Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, suffering, criminality and blasphemy against Christianity. De Sade claimed to be a proponent of absolute freedom, unrestrained by morality, religion or law. The words sadism and sadist are derived from his name.