#9: Marquis de Sade (June 2, 1740 – December 2, 1814)
Born into French aristocracy in 1740, Donatien Alphonse François, the Marquis de Sade, became a writer whose name eventually entered the English language. His novels explored cruelty, domination, religious skepticism, and the collapse of moral boundaries. Authorities repeatedly imprisoned him, and he spent years in prisons and institutions. De Sade criticized the Church and aristocratic privilege, but his own behavior made him a deeply troubling figure. He remains a complicated historical figure: a radical critic of society who was also, frankly, an exceptionally unpleasant man.
