​PONSON DU TERRAIL [[Pierre Alexis de Ponson], Vicomte de (1829–1871), French romance writer, was born at Montmaur (Isère) on the 8th of July 1829. He was a prolific novelist, producing in the space of two years some seventy-three volumes. Among his most successful productions were Les Coulisses du monde (1853), Exploits de Rocambole (1859), Les Drames de Paris (1865) and Le Forgeron de la Cour-Dieu (1869). He died at Bordeaux on the 20th of January 1871.