Dupont, Pierre |
| SINGER, SONGWRITER, POET (FRANCE) |
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BORN 23 Apr 1821, Lyon - DIED 24 Jul 1870, Lyon: 46 place d'armes GRAVE LOCATION Lyon: Cimetière de la Croix-Rousse, 63 Rue Philippe de Lassalle (Ancien Cimetière, Allée 13 mur du fond) |
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Pierre Dupont was the son of a blacksmith. After his mother died in 1825 his father remarried and gave him in the care of his godfather, a priest. He entered the minor seminary of Sainte-Foy-l'Argentière, but he didn't want to become a priest and returned to his family. He worked as a textile spinner and as bank employee before he went to Paris. There he frequented goguettes and he met Victor Hugo. He also met Pierre-Antoine Lebrun and this enabled him to publish his first book. Sainte-Beuve noticed him and from 1842 to 1847 he participated in drafting the Dictionary of the French Academy. He made friends with Gérard de Nerval, Théophile Gautier and Charles Gounod. With Gounod he wrote the song Les Boeufs. In 1844 he won the Maillé-Latour-Landry Prize for his poem "Maillé-Latour-Landry". In 1846 he composed the "Chant des ouvriers" ("Song of the Workers"). In 1849 he directed his "Le Chant des paysans" against the future Napoleon III and he paticipated in barricading the Faubourg Saint-Antoine on 2 December 1851. He was sentenced to seven years of deportment, but he fled to Provins and then to Savoy. After he pledged allegiance to the emperor he was pardoned. In 1854 he married Marie Henicque, known as Elise, in Paris. They moved to Saint Brice, Seine-et-Marne, where his father had bequeathed a house to him. His marriage was happy and they often sang together. But Elise was frail and she died in 1862. He returned to Lyon where he was warmly received by his friends. But he grew bitter and turned to the bottle. In 1868 his friend Gustave Courbet painted his portrait, but at the time of his death in 1870 at the home of his brother he was almost forgotten. He was buried at the Cimetière de la Croix-Rousse and the bust on his grave was created by Pierre Girardet. Related persons • was a friend of Baudelaire, Charles • was a friend of Gautier, Théophile • was a friend of Gounod, Charles • was a friend of Nerval, Gérard de |
| Images |
 The grave of Pierre Dupont at the Cimetière de la Croix-Rousse, Lyon. Picture by Androom (06 Nov 2009) |
Sources • Pierre Dupont - Wikipedia |
