Francois Duc De La Rochefoucauld

François Duc De La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marsillac (1613–1680) was a French author best known for his memoirs and pithy maxims. Rochefoucauld was born into wealth at a time when the French royal court threatened the noble class. As an adult, he was a leading rebel in these class wars. After the noblemen lost the war, Rochefoucauld wrote his memoirs and collections of aphorisms, many of which he published anonymously. He died of gout in 1680, and has remained an exemplar of the French noblesse.