This fancy-looking gentleman was Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, a French novelist who lived from 1741 to 1803. He is best known for writing this week's review book: Les Liaisons dangereuses (or Dangerous Liaisons). It was his first work after the failed comic opera Ernestine (which premiered to an audience that included Marie Antoinette).
As you've probably guessed based on his attire, he was also a military man. He opened an artillery school in 1777, which Napoleon attended as a student.
In 1779, he was supposed to be assisting in the construction of fortifications against the British in Ile-d'Aix, but most of that time was actually spent writing Les Liaisons dangereuses. He got six months' vacation, and spent that time in Paris, still writing.
It is believed that he died of dysentery and malaria, but his tomb was destroyed and his bones thrown into the sea during a reconstruction project.
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