Jean-Marie-Mathias-Philippe-Auguste, Comte de Villiers de l'Isle Adam (1838-1889) was born in St-Brieuc, in Britanny. He was a Count who claimed descent from the Knights of Malta, and a pioneer of the Symbolist Movement. He wrote many short stories, some collected in Contes Cruels (1883, Cruel Tales) (The Scaffold). Villiers also wrote proto-science fiction works such as L'Eve Future (1886), in which Thomas Edison builds a female android, and the quasi science-fictional tales featuring the smug Dr. Tribulat Bonhomet (1887) (The Vampire Soul) Villiers' other works include the plays La Révolte (1870) and his masterpiece, Axel (1885).   short stories collections: The Scaffold and Other Cruel Tales (2004), The Vampire Soul and Other Sardonic Tales (2004)