His name may be associated with a fine meal, but French novelist Francois Rene, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768–1848), has been called the “Father of Romanticism” in French literature.

Born on this day in Saint-Malo, Brittany, Chateaubriand escaped the chaos of the French Revolution and traveled to America in search of true liberty.

“Justice is the bread of the nation,” he wrote. “It is always hungry for it.”

Dressed as a trapper, he kept diaries of his travels through the Great Lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He wrote with reverence for nature and the Native Americans, echoing the “noble savage” of philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Inspired by Goethe’s Werther, Chateaubriand’s poetic prose found success with Atala (1801), a passionate portrait of post-revolutionary France.

“The heart feels, the head compares,” he reflected.

A celebrated writer, spiritual thinker, and diplomat, he influenced Victor Hugo, Flaubert, George Sand, and others. Chateaubriand helped define the solitary, mysterious hero in literature.

Hardly an imitation, he continues to live on. Each year, the French Government awards about 20 Chateaubriand Fellowships to American PhD students researching in France.

And yes, the gourmet legacy lives on too. Thanks to gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin—who once said, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are”—the Chateaubriand steak was born: tenderloin with mushrooms and béarnaise sauce.