CAZOTTE, JACQUES ), French author, was born at Dijon. He was educated by the Jesuits, and at 27 ob tained a public office at Martinique, returning to Paris in 1760 with the rank of commissioner-general. The most famous of his works is the Diable amoureux (1772), a tale with a Spanish setting in which the hero raises the devil. About 1775 Cazotte embraced the views of the Illuminati, declaring himself possessed of the power of prophecy. It was upon this fact that La Harpe based his famous jeu d'esprit, in which he represents Cazotte as prophe sying the most minute events of the Revolution. On the discovery of some fantastic letters in Aug. 1792, Cazotte was arrested; and though he escaped for a time through the heroism of his daughter he was executed on Sept. 25.
Other works by Cazotte are Les Mille et une fadaises (1742 ; Eng. trans. 1927) ; and a prose epic 011ivier (1762). The only complete edition is the Oeuvres badines et morales, historiques et philosophiques de Jacques Cazotte (1816-17), though more than one collection ap peared during his lifetime. An edition de luxe of the Diable amoureux was edited (1878) by A. J. Pons, and a selection of Cazotte's Contes, edited (188o) by Octave lizanne, is included in the series of Petits Conteurs du X VIII' siecle. The best notice of Cazotte is in the Illumines (1852) of Gerard de Nerval.