Vautrin

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Vautrin (French pronunciation: [votʁɛ̃]) is a character from the novels of French writer Honoré de Balzac in the La Comédie humaine series. His real name is Jacques Collin (pronounced [ʒɑk kɔlɛ̃]). He appears in the novels Le Père Goriot (Father Goriot, 1834/35) under the name Vautrin, and in Illusions perdues (Lost illusions, 1837–1843) and Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes (Scenes from a Courtesan's Life, 1838–1844), the sequel of Illusions perdues, under the name of Abbé Carlos Herrera. In prison, he got the nickname "Trompe-la-Mort" ("Dodgedeath" or "Cheats-Death"), because he managed to avoid the death sentence repeatedly.