French writer Lucien Daudet was BOTD in 1878. Born in Paris to a prominent literary family, both his parents were published writers. He grew up in luxury in Belle Époque-era Paris, and was educated by a series of private tutors and took painting lessons with James McNeill Whistler at the Académie Julien. He published his first novel Le Chemin mort in 1908, though failed to attain literary celebrity, commenting “I am the son of a man whose celebrity and talent count for several generations, I remain under his shade”. He became a socialite, consorting with a largely gay friendship circle including his childhood friend (and lover) Marcel Proust, Robert de Flers and Jean Cocteau. In 1897, the writer and notorious homosexual Jean Lorrain published a newspaper column inferring a romantic relationship between Daudet and Proust. The resulting scandal led to the sickly Proust challenging Lorrain to a duel, which both men survived. After Proust’s death, Daudet edited and published a collection of 60 of his letters to and from Proust, effectively confirming their love affair. Later in life, he became obsessed with the Dowager Empress Eugénie, eventually securing her permission to publish her correspondence. In later life, he had a relationship with painter Léon Gard, and somewhat impulsively married Marie-Therèse Benoit in 1943. He died in 1946 and was buried with his father at Père Lachaise Cemetery.