De Maupassant, Guy, << du moh pah SAHN, GEE >> (1850-1893), a French author, is considered one of the world’s great short-story writers. De Maupassant wrote clearly and simply. His tales are realistic and reflect his often brutally sarcastic and pessimistic attitude toward people. De Maupassant wrote with sympathy only about the poor and outcasts of society.
De Maupassant’s stories deal with many subjects—the middle class, peasants, government officials, the Franco-Prussian War, outdoor life, animals, and ghosts. He wrote about 250 stories, most of them between 1880 and 1890. He published them in several collections. The best known include The Tellier House (1881), Yvette (1885), Toine (1886), and The Horla (1887). His most famous stories include “Ball-of-Fat,” “The Diamond Necklace,” “The Umbrella,” and “The Piece of String.”
De Maupassant’s novels have the same qualities his short stories have. A Woman’s Life (1883) is a portrait of an unhappy country wife. Bel-Ami (1885) describes the rise of an unprincipled journalist. Peter and John (1888) is a psychological study of two brothers.
De Maupassant was born on Aug. 5, 1850, in Normandy, in northern France. He learned much of his literary technique and philosophy of life from his godfather, the famous French novelist Gustave Flaubert. De Maupassant died in an insane asylum on July 6, 1893.
