Alphonse Daudet

Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright.
Due to family financial difficulties, he interrupted his studies at the lycée in Lyon to work as a security guard at a college. With the help of his brother, at the age of 18 he went to Paris, starting his literary life. Having already published a collection of verses (Les Amoureuses, 1858), he obtained employment at Le Figaro and as secretary to the Duke of Morny, minister of Napoleon III. He became intimate with Goncourt and Emile Zola.
In 1866, he published Lettres de Mon Moulin, which places Daudet as one of the great writers of his time.
He enlisted and defended Paris (1870) during the siege of Prussian troops to the city (Franco-Prussian War), gaining war experience. Due to health problems, he traveled through Algeria, where he was inspired to write Tartarin de Tarascon in 1872.
He then wrote two novels of great literary value, Fromont Jeune et Risler Ainé (1873, awarded by the French Academy) and Jack (1876), the latter the most moving and realistic of his novels. He joined the naturalist school, producing varied and satirical work, portraying the characters of Parisian life.
He died in 1897, after years of suffering caused by brain disease. He is buried in the Père-Lachaise Cemetery (Paris).