Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne

Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne

Known for: Writing
Biography: 1734-11-23
Deathday: 1806-02-03 (71 years old)

Check on Amazon

Biography

Nicolas Restif de la Bretonne, born Nicolas-Edme Rétif or Nicolas-Edme Restif (French: [ʁetif]; 23 October 1734 – 3 February 1806), also known as Rétif, was a French novelist. The term retifism for shoe fetishism was named after him (an early novel, entitled Fanchette's Foot, follows a beautiful heroine and her pretty little foot, which, with her pretty face, gets her and her shoe/s into lots of trouble). The man was also reputed to have coined the term "pornographer" in the same-named book, The Pornographer. Born the son of a farmer at Sacy (in present-day Yonne), Rétif was educated by the Jansenists at Bicêtre, and on the expulsion of the Jansenists was received by one of his brothers, who was a curé. Owing to a scandal in which he was involved, he was apprenticed to a printer at Auxerre, and, having served his time, went to Paris. Here he worked as a journeyman printer, and in 1760 he married Anne or Agnès Lebègue, a relation of his former master at Auxerre. Soon he embraced Protestantism.It was not until five or six years after his marriage that Rétif appeared as an author, and from that time to his death he produced a bewildering multitude of books, amounting to something like two hundred volumes, many of them printed with his own hand, on almost every conceivable subject. Rétif suffered at one time or another the extremes of poverty. He drew on the episodes of his own life for his books, which, "in spite of their faded sentiment, contain truthful pictures of French society on the eve of the Revolution". He has been described as both a social realist and a sexual fantasist in his writings.

The original editions of these, and indeed of all his books, have long been bibliographical curiosities owing to their rarity, the beautiful and curious illustrations which many of them contain, and the quaint typographic system in which most are composed on.

The fall of the assignats during the Revolution forced him to make his living by writing, profiting on the new freedom of the press. In 1795 he received a gratuity of 2000 francs from the Thermidor Convention.

In spite of his declarations for the new power, his aristocratic acquaintances and his reputation made him fall in disgrace. Just before his death, Napoleon gave him a place in the ministry of police; he died at Paris before taking up the position.

Advertisement

Ratings

Average 5.2
Based on 1.2 Thousand movie and tv ratings over time
1985
1986
1986
1990
2016
Advertisement

Information

Known For
Writing

Gender
Male

Birthday
1734-11-23

Deathday
1806-02-03 (71 years old)

Birth Place
Sacy, France

Citizenships
France

Also Known As
Restif de La Bretonne, Nicolas Edme Rétif, Nicolas Edme Rétif de La Bretonne


This article uses material from Wikipedia.
Advertisement
  • Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne
    Nicolas Edme Restif de La Bretonne
  • Filmography
  • Information
Social Media
X
Facebook
Pinterest
Telegram
Download
iOS Application
Made in Ukraine 🇺🇦
Copyright © MovieFit 2018 – 2024
All external content remains the property of its respective owner.