Retif de la Bretonne, Nicolas-Edmé

Nicolas-Edmé Retif (or Restif) de la Bretonne was a French author born in the village of Sacy near Auxerre, the capital of Bourgogne. He was number eight of fourteen children born to a well-to-do farmer. La Bretonne was the name of the farm his father leased. Since Nicolas-Edmé was considered a fragile child, it was decided that he should become a clergyman, but when he proved to have a healthy appetite for life, he was allowed to become apprenticed to a printer in Auxerre instead. At the age of twenty he went to Paris to work for a printer. In 1759 or 1760, he married Agnès Lebègue. The couple had four daughters, three of whom survived childhood. It was a stormy marriage, and they eventually separated in 1785.