Victor Séjour

Victor Séjour
Born(1817-06-02)June 2, 1817
New Orleans, Louisiana
DiedSeptember 20, 1874(1874-09-20) (aged 57)
Paris, France
Resting placePère Lachaise Cemetery
OccupationNovelist, playwright
PeriodVictoria era
GenreFiction

Juan Victor Séjour Marcou et Ferrand (June 2, 1817 – September 20, 1874) was an American Creole of color and writer. Born in New Orleans, he spent most of his career in Paris. Séjour's fiction and plays were written and published in French. Although he was mostly unknown to later American writers of the nineteenth century, his short story "Le Mulâtre" ("The Mulatto") is the earliest known work of fiction by a Black American author. In France, however, he was known chiefly for his plays. His first work of fiction was an ode to French Emperor Napoleon in 1841.