WRITER

François Rabelais

1494 - 1553

Photo of François Rabelais

Icon of person François Rabelais

François Rabelais (UK: RAB-ə-lay, US: -⁠LAY; French: [fʁɑ̃swa ʁablɛ]; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholar, he attracted opposition from both Protestant theologian John Calvin and from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Though in his day he was best known as a physician, scholar, diplomat, and Catholic priest, later he became better known as a satirist for his depictions of the grotesque, and for his larger-than-life characters. Living in the religious and political turmoil of the Reformation, Rabelais treated the great questions of his time in his novels. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. François Rabelais is the 105th most popular writer (down from 82nd in 2019), the 101st most popular biography from France (down from 67th in 2019) and the 22nd most popular French Writer.

François Rabelais is most famous for his book Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of François Rabelais by language

Loading...

Among WRITERS

Among writers, François Rabelais ranks 105 out of 7,302Before him are Paulo Coelho, Virginia Woolf, Guy de Maupassant, Alexandre Dumas fils, Miyamoto Musashi, and Arthur Rimbaud. After him are Jack London, Knut Hamsun, W. Somerset Maugham, Stephen King, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and Marquis de Sade.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1494, François Rabelais ranks 3Before him are Suleiman the Magnificent, and Francis I of France. After him are Fuzûlî, Georgius Agricola, Pontormo, Bona Sforza, Rosso Fiorentino, Jean Parisot de Valette, Leo Africanus, Lucas van Leyden, and Antoinette de Bourbon. Among people deceased in 1553, François Rabelais ranks 2Before him is Edward VI of England. After him are Şehzade Mustafa, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Michael Servetus, Şehzade Cihangir, Pedro de Valdivia, Charles III, Duke of Savoy, Maurice, Elector of Saxony, Girolamo Fracastoro, John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, and Lucrezia de' Medici.

Others Born in 1494

Go to all Rankings

Others Deceased in 1553

Go to all Rankings

In France

Among people born in France, François Rabelais ranks 101 out of 6,770Before him are Gustave Courbet (1819), Guy de Maupassant (1850), William the Conqueror (1028), Alexandre Dumas fils (1824), Louis Philippe I (1773), and Arthur Rimbaud (1854). After him are Louis XII of France (1462), Henry II of France (1519), W. Somerset Maugham (1874), Jean le Rond d'Alembert (1717), Louis the Pious (778), and Pope Urban V (1310).

Among WRITERS In France

Among writers born in France, François Rabelais ranks 22Before him are Stendhal (1783), Romain Rolland (1866), Charles Perrault (1628), Guy de Maupassant (1850), Alexandre Dumas fils (1824), and Arthur Rimbaud (1854). After him are W. Somerset Maugham (1874), Marquis de Sade (1740), Anatole France (1844), André Gide (1869), Sully Prudhomme (1839), and Jean de La Fontaine (1621).