Xavier de Maistre (1763 - 1852)

Xavier de Maistre of Savoy (then part of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia), lived largely as a military man, but is known as a French writer. The younger brother of noted philosopher and counter-revolutionary Joseph de Maistre, Xavier was born to an aristocratic family at Chambéry in October 1763. He served when young in the army of Piedmont-Sardinia, and in 1790 wrote his fantasy, Voyage autour de ma chambre ("Voyage Around My Room," published 1794) when he was under arrest in Turin as the consequence of a duel.