Prévost d'Exiles, Antoine-François, Abbé

(born April 1, 1697, Hesdin, France—died Nov. 25, 1763, Chantilly) French novelist. From an early age Prévost alternated between enlistments in the army and entries into the religious life, which he eventually fled in 1728. Subsequent years were marked by numerous love affairs and debt. His fame rests entirely on one work—Manon Lescaut (1731), a sentimental novel about a young man of good family who ruins his life for a courtesan, which became the basis of two famous operas, Jules Massenet's Manon and Giacomo Puccini's Manon Lescaut.

Source: Encyclopedia Britannica