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
Louis Alphonse Gassion Louis Alphonse Gassion Louis Alphonse Gassion (10 May, 1881 - 3 March, 1944) was a French circus performer and contortionist, with a background in theatre. He is mostly known as the father of the legendary French singer-songwriter and actress Édith Piaf. Gassion was born on 10 May, 1881 in Falaise, Calvados to a poor family. His father, Victor Alphonse Gassion, was a horseman in the circus, and his mother, Louise Léontine Deschamps, was the Madam of a brothel in Bernay, Normandy. He had seven sisters, two of whom died at a young age. He began his career in the circus