Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin

WRITER, POET (FRANCE)
BORN 23 Dec 1804, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais - DIED 13 Oct 1869, Paris: rue de Montparnasse 11
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière du Montparnasse, 3 Boulevard Edgar Quinet (division 17)

Cahrles Augustin Sainte-Beuve was ecuated at Boulogne before he studied medicine in Paris at the Collège Charlemagne. Although he started working at the St. Louis Hospital in 1828 he had been publishing literary articles since 1824. After Victor Hugo reviewed his "Odes et ballads" in 1827 he came into close contact with Hugo. In 1833 Sainte-Beuve started an affair with Hugo's wife Adèle. He had known her as a child and now they met in churches and rented rooms. The affair lasted until 1837.

In 1834 his autobiographical novel "Volupté" was published and in 1845 he was elected into the Académie Française. During the revolution of 1848 he worked as a tracher in Liège. In 1849 he returned to Paris.

Between 1837 and 1859 he published the very influencial "Port-Royal", a study of the Jansenist abbey of Port-Royal-des-Champs. In 1865 he became a Senator and he spoke out for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Related persons
• was a friend of Belli, Giuseppe Gioachino
• was a friend of Négrin, Émile
• met Shelley, Mary
• has a connection with Vinet, Alexandre Rodolphe

Images

The grave of Sainte-Beuve at the Montparnasse cemetery, Paris.
Picture by Androom (27 Aug 2001)

 

Sources
Historia 275, Tallandier, Paris, 1969
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve - Wikipedia


Saint-Hilaire, Étienne Geoffrey

Published: 07 Aug 2009
Last update: 25 Apr 2022