Guy de Maupassant is a French author best known for the 300 or so short stories he published in the space of 10 years. Closely related to Émile Zola and Gustave Flaubert, his works are marked by realism, fantasy, anguish and madness. He also worked as a literary journalist, publishing several columns in French newspapers. His success soon made him a wealthy man. His literary career was short-lived, however, as madness gradually took hold of him a few years before his death.
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1850: Guy de Maupassant is born in Tourville-sur-Arques on August 5.
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1870: After college, he works as a mobile guard during the 1870 war against Prussia.
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1872: At the end of the war, despite his desire to write, he accepts civil servant posts in Paris to earn a living.
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1877: He is diagnosed with syphilis.
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1880: He leaves his job as a civil servant to devote himself entirely to writing. He publishes his first short story, Butterball, which marks the start of his writing career.
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1883: He publishes his first novel, Une vie (A Life).
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1884: He publishes his short story The Necklace.
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1885: His novel Bel ami (Dear Friend) is published. Now rich, Maupassant buys a yacht and takes several trips, first to the Côte d'Azur and then to North Africa.
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1887: The short stories The Horla and Le Rosier de Madame Husson (Madame Husson's Rosebush) are published.
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1888: He publishes his last novel, Pierre et Jean.
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1890: His literary career comes to an end, and his mental health begins to decline.
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1892: He attempts suicide on the night of January 1 to 2.
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1893: He dies on July 6 at the age of 42, following a mental breakdown caused by syphilis.