Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (/ˈmoʊpəˌsɑːnt/; French: [ɡid(ə) mopasɑ̃]; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a French writer, remembered as a master of the short story form, and as a representative of the naturalist school of writers, who depicted human lives and destinies and social forces in disillusioned and often pessimistic terms.