Joris-Karl Huysmans

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Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans (February 5, 1848 – May 12, 1907) was a French novelist born from a Dutch father. He published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans, using an approximation of the Dutch equivalent of his forenames, to emphasize his roots.

Huysmans was born in Paris. He started his literary career as a Naturalist writer with texts such as Marthe, Histoire d'une fille (1876). His novel À rebours (Against the Grain or Against Nature) (1884), which featured a single character, the aesthete des Esseintes, broke from Naturalism and became the ultimate example of "decadent" literature. À rebours gained further notoriety as an exhibit during the trials of Oscar Wilde in 1895, during which the prosecutor referred to the novel as a "sodomitical" book.

In 1891, the publication of Là-Bas (Down There) attracted considerable attention for its depiction of Satanism in late 1880s France. His later works En Route (1895) and La Cathédrale (1898) are influenced by the Roman Catholicism, a religion to which he, like many of the great Decadents, converted. Huysmans was also known for his art criticism: L'Art moderne (1883) and Certains (1889). He was a founding member of the Académie Goncourt.