Quick Facts
French short story master who wrote three hundred tales of Norman peasants and Parisian pleasures with brutal clarity, until syphilis drove him mad and his own brilliance into darkness.
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Life Journey
Born Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant on August 5, 1850, in Normandy. His parents' marriage was unhappy; they separated when he was eleven. The Norman coast would haunt his imagination.
Sent to a seminary in Rouen, where he was deeply unhappy. He deliberately got himself expelled. His mother then enrolled him in a lycée where he excelled in literature.
His mother, a childhood friend of Gustave Flaubert, introduced her son to the master. Flaubert became his literary mentor, shaping his craft through years of rigorous training.
Began studying law in Paris. The Franco-Prussian War interrupted his studies. He would never complete his degree, but Paris opened new worlds.
Served as a soldier in the Franco-Prussian War. The experience of defeat, occupation, and human behavior under pressure provided material for many stories, including his masterpiece.
Took a clerical position at the Ministry of the Navy. The tedious work left time for writing. For years he lived a double life: bureaucrat by day, apprentice writer by night.
First symptoms of syphilis appeared. The disease, contracted in his youth, would eventually destroy him. For now, he ignored the warnings and pursued pleasure.
Published 'Boule de Suif' in a collection with Zola and others. The story of a prostitute's dignity during the Prussian occupation made him famous overnight. Flaubert declared it a masterpiece.
His beloved mentor Gustave Flaubert died suddenly. Maupassant was devastated. He had lost his literary father just as his career began.
Published his first collection of short stories, 'La Maison Tellier.' The stories of Norman life and Parisian vice established his reputation. He was now the master of the form.
Published 'Bel-Ami,' his cynical novel of a social climber using women to rise in Paris. The novel scandalized and fascinated readers with its amoral protagonist.
Published 'Le Horla,' his terrifying story of a man haunted by an invisible presence. The story reflected his own growing fears of madness. The darkness was closing in.
His mental health deteriorated rapidly. Headaches, hallucinations, paranoia. The syphilis was attacking his brain. He could barely write.
On New Year's Day 1892, Maupassant attempted suicide by cutting his throat. He was saved but committed to an asylum in Paris. He never recovered his sanity.
Guy de Maupassant died on July 6, 1893, in a Paris asylum. He was forty-two. In ten years of writing, he had produced three hundred stories, six novels, and transformed the short story form forever.