Alfons de Lamartine (1790-1869) - an outstanding poet and politician of his time, had a famous name in France during the French Revolution. Alphonse Maria Louis de Prat de Lamartine is a playwright and prose writer, as well as a French politician. He is an exceptional speaker who proclaims and leads the Second Republic, and one of the greatest figures of romanticism in France.
Key Biography Facts
Born on October 21, 1790 in Burgundy. Also known as Alphonse Marie Louis De Prat De Lamartine.
Political ideology: a political party - doctrinaires (1815-1848), moderate Republicans (1848-1869).
A family:
- Wife - Mary Ann Eliza Burch.
- Father - Pierre de Lamartine.
- Mother is Alix Des Royce.
- Children: Alfons De Lamartine, Julia De Lamartine.
He died at the age of 78 on February 28, 1869 in Paris.
Biography of Alfonso de Lamartine
Born into a wealthy family, Lamartine had a Catholic upbringing. Despite the fact that his parents were faithful 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. Great influence on his work had a Julie Charles, whom he met during his exile in Aix-les-Bains.
His poems resonated in the hearts of his readers, having a deep emotional impact. Despite the fact that 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 toward democracy, abandoning his military profession. After Napoleon came to power, the poet was forced to engage in literary work for most of his future life, because in the end he went bankrupt.
Childhood and youth
Alphonse was born on October 21, 1790 in Burgundy, France, into a family of royalists 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.
Alfons studied at home with his mother in the early years, and then continued his studies in the French city of Lyon in 1805. However, in the same year he was transferred to the religious institution “Perez de la Foy” (“Fathers of the Faith”), located in Belly. The young guy continued his education there over the next four years.
Political activity
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 the Emperor Napoleon was overthrown in France and the Bourbons came to power.
He took refuge in Switzerland after Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Lamartine even began to write poetry at this time. After the end of the Battle of Waterloo, a clash between French and other European forces, the poet returned to Paris.
In 1820, he joined the diplomatic corps, which was controlled by the French monarchs of the Bourbons. His first appointment was the secretary of the French Embassy in Naples.
Alfons de Lamartine was transferred to Florence in 1824, where he lived for the next five years. He was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor by Charles X, King of France, for the poem that was pronounced at his coronation.
In 1829, when he left the embassy in Florence, Alphonse released another poetic collection entitled "Harmonies of poets and religions." After publication, he was admitted to the French Academy, the official institution of educated people, and dealt with issues related to the French language.
Taking part in the diplomatic services under the French government, he went on a journey through the eastern lands in 1832. Then the poet 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 Berg County in the Nord department. After his first speech, he gained a reputation as an experienced speaker and continued to work on poetry and poetry.
From 1836 to 1838, two of his works, Fall of an Angel and Jocelyn, were published. Both poems drew inspiration from his real events. They reflected his love interest in Julia Charles and how he later became a believer in God.
The main work of Alfons de Lamartine in the field of poetry was Recueillements poétiquesme, published in 1839. After that, 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 party during and after the revolution.
After the French Revolution in 1848, when the monarch was removed from power and the government was elected, Lamartine was one of the first to become a prominent figure in this new interim government. He was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs 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 right-wing leaders realized that Lamartine was defending the cause of the working class, he was expelled from the assembly in June 1848.
Poetic career
In 1816, while traveling to Aix-les-Bains, where he went to treat a nervous illness, Lamartine fell deeply in love with Julie Charles. They were supposed to meet again on Lake Bourget a year later, but her illness was more serious than his ailment, and she could not leave Paris, where she died a few months later.
Deeply moved by these relationships, Lamartine wrote one of his best lyric works, and in 1820 published a collection of 24 verses called Méditations. The anthology gained immediate success. This collection is considered the first romantic poetic work in French and is among the best books of Alfonso de Lamartine. Although the poems are not startlingly innovative in form or technique, they develop intense personal lyricism that enlivens abstract language and outdated images.
Le Lac ("Lake") is a poem that Lamartine most remembered. It reflects the passage of time and the comfort of the poet in the feeling that nature conceals in itself the memory of his lost love. Other verses, such as Isolation, speak of the torment of a sensitive person who is indifferent to life, since love and the meaning of existence have been taken from him. In other verses, the poet affirms a new faith born of retirement. Lamartine did not intend to create a literary revolution with these works, most of which retain part of the rhythm and images of the neoclassical verse. But personalism and its direct lyricism were new to French verse.
Compelled to 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 heritage
The success in both financial and literary activities and the appointment to the post at the Embassy of Naples allowed Lamartine to marry the Englishwoman Mary Ann Burch in June 1820. Over the next 10 years, the young diplomat continued his career in Naples and Florence. The son was born, but died in infancy, and in 1822 the daughter Julia was born. He continued to publish various verses: the second collection of editions of Méditationsin 1823; Le Dernier chant du pélerinage d'Harold (“The Last Song of the Childhood Harold Pilgrimage”) in honor of Byron in 1825 and “Poetic Harmonies and Religion” in 1830. Nevertheless, the idea of creating a great epic work constantly haunted him. In 1832, he embarked on a trip to the Holy Land with his wife and daughter. Julia died tragically during the trip, and the despair caused by her death found expression in the Hetsemani (1834).
The death of his daughter was a turning point in the life of Lamartine, when he abandoned Catholicism and turned into a pantheist. During the voyage, Alphonse Lamartine became more democratic in his views and resorted to "pantheism" - a form of spiritual faith. He denied any further involvement in diplomatic services and decided to engage in 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 Alfons de Lamartine
The more I see humanity, the more I admire my dogs.
A conscience without God is like judgment without a judge.
Grief and sadness bind two hearts with a closer bond than happiness; and common suffering is much stronger than ordinary joys.
Experience is the only prophecy of the sages.
Silence - applause for real and strong impressions.
Silence and simplicity do not bother anyone, but these are also two incomparable attractiveness of a woman.
My mother was convinced, and on this basis I retained her firm conviction that killing animals in order to feed them with flesh is one of the most regrettable and shameful infirmities of the human condition; this is one of these curses imposed on a person either by his fall, or by the obstinacy of his own depravity.
Aphorisms of Alfons de Lamartine are widely known. The most popular of them are more than 30.
