François-René de Chateaubriand Writer

François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (/ʃæˌtoʊbriːˈɑːn/; French: [fʁɑ̃swa ʁəne də ʃatobʁijɑ̃]; 4 September 1768 – 4 July 1848) was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature. Descended from an old aristocratic family from Brittany, Chateaubriand was a royalist by political disposition and in an age when a significant part of the intelligentsia was turning against the Church, authored the Génie du christianisme in defence of the Catholic faith. It is his autobiography Mémoires d'outre-tombe ("Memoirs from Beyond the Grave'", published posthumously 1848–1850), however, that is nowadays generally considered his most accomplished work.