Marquis de Sade Marquis de Sade Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade (; 2 June 1740 – 2 December 1814), was a French nobleman, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer, famous for his libertine sexuality. His works include novels, short stories, plays, dialogues, and political tracts; in his lifetime some were published under his own name while others appeared anonymously, which Sade denied having written. Sade is best known for his erotic works, which combined philosophical discourse with pornography, depicting sexual fantasies with an emphasis on violence, suffering, criminality, and blasphemy against Christianity. He gained notoriety for putting these fantasies into practice with both
Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle (1729-1818) was a French aristocrat and military officer. Joseph-Alphonse-Omer de Valbelle was born on 18 June 1729 in Aix-en-Provence. His father was André Geoffroy de Valbelle and his mother, Marguerite-Delphine de Valbelle. He had a brother, Joseph-Ignage-Cosme de Valbelle, and a sister, Anne Alphonsine de Valbelle. He served as a mestre de camp in 1749, maréchal de camp in 1762, followed by Lieutenant general of Provence. After his brother's death in 1766, he inherited the marquisates of Tourves, Rians, Montfuron, Bressuire, the Baronetcies of Saint-Symphorien-sur-Coise and Meyrargues, the Countom of Oraison, Valbelle, Sainte-Tulles, Cadarache,