Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869) - an outstanding poet and politician of his time, had a famous name in France during the French Revolution. Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine is a playwright and novelist, as well as a French politician. He is an exceptional orator who proclaims and leads the Second Republic, and one of the greatest figures of romanticism in France.
Basic Biography Facts
Born October 21, 1790 in Burgundy. Also known as Alphonse Marie Louis De Prat De Lamartine.
Political ideology: political party - doctrinaires (1815-1848), moderate republicans (1848-1869).
Family:
- Wife - Mary Ann Eliza Birch.
- Father - Pierre de Lamartine.
- Mother - Alix Des Royce.
- Children: Alphonse De Lamartine, Julia De Lamartine.
Died at the age of 78 February 28, 1869 in Paris.
Biography of Alfonso de Lamartine
Born into a we althy family, Lamartine had a Catholic upbringing. Even though his parentswere loyal supporters of Napoleon, he despised him and supported the regime of the French ruler Louis Philippe. He later played a significant role in the functioning of the Second Republic after the French Revolution of 1848. His literary works had a profound influence on French literature. They drew inspiration from the loss of a loved one. Julie Charles, whom he met during his exile in Aix-les-Bains, had a great influence on his work.
His poems resonated in the hearts of his readers with a deep emotional impact. Although he was extremely successful as a poet, his political career was full of ups and downs. Lamartine began as a royal guard under the monarch Louis XVIII, and then was appointed diplomat of the French embassy. Over the years, he gradually began to lean towards democracy, abandoning his military profession. After Napoleon came to power, the poet was forced to engage in literary work for most of his later life, as he eventually went bankrupt.
Childhood and youth
Alphonse was born on October 21, 1790 in Burgundy, France, to a royalist family who believed in the policies of Emperor Napoleon. His father, an aristocrat, was arrested during the Thermidorian period of the French Revolution, but fortunately escaped the ensuing chaos and massacre.
Alphonse was educated at home by his mother in his early years and then continued his studies in the French city of Lyon in 1805. However, in the same year hetransferred to the religious institution "Perez de la Foy" ("Fathers of the Faith"), located in Belli. The young lad continued his education there for the next four years.
Political activities
Although his parents were loyal supporters of the royal family, Lamartine joined the troupe Gardes du corps in 1814, which guarded the famous monarch Louis XVIII, when Emperor Napoleon was deposed in France and the Bourbons rose to power.
He took refuge in Switzerland after Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Lamartine even began to write poetry during this time. After the end of the Battle of Waterloo, a clash between French and other European troops, the poet returned to Paris.
In 1820 he joined the diplomatic corps, which was ruled by the French Bourbon monarchs. His first appointment was as Secretary of the French Embassy in Naples.
Alphonse de Lamartine was transferred to Florence in 1824, where he lived for the next five years. He was awarded the Légion d'Honneur by Charles X, King of France, for a poem recited at his coronation.
In 1829, when he left the embassy in Florence, Alphonse published another collection of poetry called Harmonies of Poets and Religions. After publication, he was admitted to the "French Academy", the official institution of educated people, and de alt with issues related to the French language.
Having taken part in the diplomatic services under the governmentFrance, he went on a trip to the eastern lands in 1832. The poet then visited Syria, Lebanon and Palestine during their encirclement, he even published a book called Voyage en Orient three years later.
He was elected deputy in 1833 after two unsuccessful attempts as a deputy in the district of Berg in the department of Nord. After his first speech, he gained a reputation as a skilled orator and continued to work on poetry and poetry.
From 1836 to 1838 two of his works "The Fall of an Angel" and "Jocelyn" were published. Both poems drew inspiration from his actual experiences. They reflected his love interest for Julia Charles and how he later became a believer in God.
The main work of Alphonse de Lamartine in the field of poetry was the Recueillements poétiquesme, published in 1839. After this, Lamartine became actively involved in politics. He advocated for the rights of the poor and sought to eliminate economic inequality.
In 1847 his famous historical work Histoire des Girondins was published. In this book, he presented the history of the Girondins during and after the revolution.
After the French Revolution in 1848, when the monarch was removed from power and an elected government was at the head of the country, Lamartine was one of the first to become a prominent figure in this new provisional government. He was appointed foreign minister of the new administration.
The new government was divided into two classes: the working class and the right-wing parties that make up the elite of society. The two cults despised each other, and when the right-wing leaders realized that Lamartine was championing the cause of the working class, he was expelled from the assembly in June 1848.
Poetic career
In 1816, during a trip to Aix-les-Bains, where he went to treat a nervous illness, Lamartine fell deeply in love with Julie Charles. They were to meet again at Lake Bourget a year later, but her illness was more serious than his, and she was unable to leave Paris, where she died a few months later.
Deeply moved by this relationship, Lamartine wrote one of his best lyric works, and in 1820 he published a collection of 24 poems called Méditations. The anthology was an immediate success. This collection is considered to be the first romantic poetic work in French and is among the best books of Alphonse de Lamartine. Although the poems are not strikingly innovative in form or technique, they develop an intense personal lyricism that brings abstract language and outdated imagery to life.
Le Lac ("The Lake") is the poem that Lamartine is most remembered for. It reflects the passage of time and the poet's consolation in the feeling that nature is fraught with the memory of his lost love. Other verses such as "Isolation" speak of the torment of a sensitive person who is indifferent to life, because he was deprived of love and the meaning of existence. In other verses, the poet affirms a new faith born of retirement. Lamartine did not intend to create a literary revolutionthese works, most of which retain some of the rhythm and imagery of neoclassical verse. But personalism and its direct lyricism were new to French verse.
Forced into bankruptcy and abandoned by his contemporaries after Napoleon returned to power, Lamartine was forced to work tirelessly for the rest of his life. His works in the last years of his life include Raphaël, Les Confidences and Nouvelles Confidences. He also wrote novels: Genevieve (1851), Antoniella, Memoirs of Politics (1863).
Personal life and legacy
Success in both financial and literary activities and an appointment at the Naples embassy allowed Lamartine to marry the Englishwoman Mary Ann Birch in June 1820. Over the next 10 years, the young diplomat continued his career in Naples and Florence. A son was born, but died in infancy, and in 1822 a daughter, Julia, was born. He continued to publish various poems: a second collection of editions of Méditationsin 1823; Le Dernier chant du pélerinage d'Harold ("Last Canticle of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage") in honor of Byron in 1825 and "Poetic Harmonies and Religion" in 1830. Nevertheless, the idea of creating a great epic work constantly pursued him. In 1832 he undertook a trip to the Holy Land with his wife and daughter. Julia tragically died during the trip, and the despair caused by her death found expression in Getsemani (1834).
The death of his daughter marked a turning point in Lamartine's life as he renounced Catholicism and became a pantheist. While sailingAlphonse Lamartine became more democratic in his views and resorted to "pantheism" - a form of spiritual faith. He denied any further involvement in the diplomatic service and decided to enter politics to improve society.
Lamartine died on February 28, 1869 at the age of 78 in Paris, France, long forgotten by his friends and supporters.
Aphorisms and quotes by Alphonse de Lamartine
The more I see representatives of humanity, the more I admire my dogs.
A conscience without God is like a court without a judge.
Grief and sadness bind two hearts closer than happiness; and common suffering is much stronger than ordinary joys.
Experience is the only prophecy of the sages.
Silence - applause of real and strong impressions.
Silence and simplicity do not interfere with anyone, but they are also two incomparable attractiveness of a woman.
My mother was convinced, and on that basis I retained her firm conviction, that killing animals for the purpose of feeding them flesh is one of the most deplorable and shameful infirmities of the human condition; it is one of these curses, either by his fall or by the stubbornness of his own depravity.
The aphorisms of Alphonse de Lamartine are widely known. The most popular of them, there are more than 30.
Books about Lamartine
You can read about the life of the writer Alphonse de Lamartine in such books,as "The Life of Lamartine" (2 vols., 1918) by Henry Remsen Whitehouse and "Studies in Childhood and Youth" (1925) by Mark Gambier-Parry. It is also recommended reading Nineteenth-Century French Romantic Poets (1969) by Robert T. Denome, which has a particularly interesting chapter on Lamartine.
