Cyrano de Bergerac
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-55), French author and soldier. He was famous as a duellist and fought over 1000 duels, reputedly on account of his long nose. A highly original writer, he produced plays, novels, and political pamphlets. His fantastic novel Voyages to the Moon and the Sun (1656-62) anticipated such writers as Swift and Voltaire. He also forecast such discoveries as the atomic structure of matter, aviation, and the gramophone.
