Pierre Louÿs

1870–1925

3 standalone books

Pierre Louÿs, born Pierre Louis on December 10, 1870, in Ghent, Belgium, and died on June 4, 1925, in Paris, France, was a French novelist and poet. He was associated with Parnassian and Symbolist circles and was friends with the composer Claude Debussy. Louÿs founded literary reviews, including La Conque in 1891. His Chansons de Bilitis, published in 1894, were prose poems about Sapphic love, presented as translations from the Greek, and deceived experts. His novel Aphrodite, published in 1896, depicted courtesan life in ancient Alexandria and brought him fame. His novel La Femme et le pantin, published in 1898, is considered his best work and is set in Spain. His popularity, based largely on his erotic themes, has since declined.

Born

1870