Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac
(May 31, 1597 - February 8, 1654) France
Writer
Born in Andoulême, Guez deserves a mention as Théophile de Viau's sometime lover, and as an innovative French stylist, forging the classical form that Bossuet was later to make famous. He was a founding member of the Académie Française.
However, he never put his oratorical talents to the service of his sexuality. Since this sexuality led others to a horrible death at the stake, his silence is fully understandable. When he suspected that his private life was exposing him to risk, he left Paris.
Source: excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII, Routledge, London, 2001
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