Vairasse Dallais, Denis

(also Veiras d’Allais). Born circa 1630, in Alais (Aies), Languedoc Province; died circa 1700, in Holland. French writer.

Vairasse d’Allais wrote the Utopian novel L’Histoire des sévarambes (part 1, in English, 1675; vols. 1-2, in French, 1677-79; Russian translation, 1937 and 1956). Presented in the form of a travel novel, the utopia describes a fictitious society in which private property is replaced by communal property, there are no estates or hereditary privileges, work is compulsory for all, but monarchical rule is retained. The political system of the Sévarambes is a combination of an enlightened monarchy and a democracy. The novel is a link between the early communist utopias of the 16th century and the social ideas of the Enlightenment.