Marquis de Sade
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Donatien Alphonse François, Comte de Sade, (June 2 1740 - December 2 1814), better known as the Marquis de Sade) was a French dramatist and philosopher.
Once he had grown up, he had troubles with the authorities, several times. He spent quite a few years in prison.
The main points he was accused of.
- Whipping a prostitute
- Drugging prostitutes and later forcing them to have group sex, and also engage in sodomy.
On one of his escapes, he accidentally raped a close relative of his, who was a nun. This caused his familiy to drop him, and to hand him over to the authorities.
For this, he was sentenced to death (while being absent). He later escaped the death penalty by moving to Italy. The death penalty against him was later changed to a prison sentence.
In prison he started to read anbout philosophy. He also started to write down his ideas. He tried to hide his writing, and also wrote in a very small print, so that the consumption of paper would not be noticed.
In later years, he was moved to an asylum (for the mentally ill), and gave his wife the possibility of a divorce.
After the French Revolution he got out of the asylum, but in 1803 was declared mentally ill (and again was sent to the asylum). He died in the asylum in 1814, aged 74.
The term Sadism was created after Alphonse Donatien De Sade because of his practice of brutality through his long life.