Leon Cladel (1835-1892) is one of the outstanding representatives of the revolutionary literature of France in the 1860s-80s, the author of several social novels, many novels and short stories, dramas and poems. Recommending Cladel's stories to the Russian reader, Turgenev emphasized the realism and democratism of his work. The deep sympathy that permeated the image of the common people of France in the works of Cladel, made him close to the creator of the Hunter's Notes. The writers were also brought together by the sharply hostile attitude of both towards the empire of Napoleon III.