Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe (c. 1660–1731) was an English writer and government agent, author of Robinson Crusoe and one of the earliest proponents of the English novel. Born Daniel Foe in London, he lived through the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666, which left only three houses standing in his neighbourhood. He later added the grand-sounding De to his name.

He was rarely out of debt and went bankrupt in 1692. He had joined Monmouth's rebellion in 1685 and escaped the Bloody Assizes by pardon, and under William III he served as a secret agent. His political tracts cost him a period in prison.

Robinson Crusoe (1719) ran through four editions before the year ended, and its name now defines the Robinsonade genre; Moll Flanders and Roxana followed. He died in 1731, probably in hiding from his creditors.