François Rabelais – French Renaissance writer and humanist, author of Gargantua and Pantagruel. His exuberant satire, brimming with laughter, invention, and linguistic play, mocked power, dogma, and folly. He is hailed as the father of literary grotesque and free thought.
🍷 His novels overflow with banquets, wine, and wild exaggerations that amused and scandalised readers. 📖 Gargantua and Pantagruel was often censored and banned for obscenity. 👨⚕️ Trained as a physician, he channelled medical knowledge into vivid bodily imagery. ⚔️ His humour mixed bawdy student jokes with classical erudition. 🌍 Travelled widely, lived in monasteries, and evaded church persecution. 📚 Inspired Swift, Voltaire, and later satirical traditions. 🎭 Coined numerous neologisms, some of which entered French permanently. 😂 Curiosity: enjoyed inventing pseudonyms and used several at once. 😄 Amusing fact: legend says his dying words were, “I go to see if they serve wine up there.”