Loti, Pierre: - Pierre Loti was a French naval officer and author who lived from January 14, 1850, to June 10, 1923. He was famous for his wild tales and short stories. Loti was born into a Protestant family and started school in Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, where he was born. He went to the military school in Brest when he was 17 years old and studied at Le Borda. He worked his way up through the ranks and became a captain in 1906. He joined the reserve list in January 1910. According to the Académie francaise on the day of his introduction (7 April 1892), he often said, "Loti ne sait pas lire" ("Loti doesn't know how to read"). However, his library, much of which is still kept in his home in Rochefort, and the words of his friends show that he did read. In 1876, other naval officers convinced him to write about some strange events that happened in Istanbul in parts of his notebook. This led to the secret publication of Aziyadé (1879), which was both a love story and an autobiography, like Marcel Proust's work that was inspired by him.