Cleland, John (1709–1789)

English writer. His novel Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (1748–49; also known by the name of its narrator, Fanny Hill), which he wrote to free himself from his creditors, was considered indecent by his contemporaries.

Cleland became consul in Izmir, Turkey, was in the service of the East India Company, and then wandered around Europe for some years. After the publication of Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, he was said to have been awarded a government pension of £100 to save him from the temptation of writing further erotic fiction, but he lived out his life in near penury. He also wrote Memoirs of a Coxcomb (1751) and a number of plays.