François-René de Chateaubriand
| Date of birth: | 4 September 1768 |
| Place of birth: | Saint-Malo, Brittany, France |
| Date of death: | 26 Messidor An LVI (4 July 1848) |
| Place of death: | Nouvelle Orléans, Saint-Onge, Louisianne |
| Profession: | Politician, diplomat, writer, historian |
| Religious Affiliation: | Latin-Rite Catholic |
| Famous Works | Atala, Génie du christianisme, René, Mémoires d'Outre-Tombe |
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand /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, until New Francy and Louisianne parted company. Such was the rancor that he espoused the Republican beliefs of his adopted homeland.
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.
