Alfred Jean François Mézières (19 November 1826, in

Réhon Réhon () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is the town where Jean-Marc Reiser (1941–1983) was born. Population See also * Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a l ...

– 10 October 1915, in Réhon) was a French journalist, politician and historian of literature.

Biography

Alfred Mézières was educated at

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

College and the

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

. He became a teacher at the French School of Athens, and later in Toulouse. He taught foreign literature at the University of Nancy in 1854, and was appointed professor of foreign literature at the Sorbonne in 1861. In 1864, he co-founded the newspaper

Le Temps ' (, ) is a Swiss French-language daily newspaper published in Berliner format in Geneva by Le Temps SA. The paper was launched in 1998, formed out of the merger of two other newspapers, and (the former being a merger of two other papers), ...

. He served as an army officer in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. He published studies on Shakespeare, Petrarch, Dante and Goethe and was elected to the Academie Francaise on January 29, 1874. In 1874, he entered politics representing

Longwy Longwy (; older , ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as ''Longoviciens''. In ...

on the General Council of

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a '' département'' in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, ...

, serving as President of the Council twice, 1889 - 1892 and 1898 - 1906. He was elected to the Assemblee Nationale as the deputy of Meurthe-et-Moselle in 1881 and served until 1898. In 1900, he was elected senator for Meurthe-et-Moselle and in 1906, he became vice president of the Senate army commission. In September 1914, the German army occupied Meziere’s house in Rehon and held him hostage. On October 3, 1915, he was finally allowed to leave in exchange for a German prisoner, but he died on October 10, 1915. The rue Alfred Mezieres and four nearby schools in Nancy are named after him, as is the College Alfred Mezieres in

Jarny Jarny () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department The following is a list of the 591 communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department of ...

Works

* ''De Fluminibus inferorum, thesim proponebat Facultati litterarum parisiensi'' (1853) * ''Étude sur les œuvres politiques de Paul Paruta'' (1853) * ''Mémoires sur le Pélion et l'Ossa'' (1853) * ''Description de la Laconie'' (1853) * ''

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

, ses œuvres et ses critiques'' (1860) * ''Prédécesseurs et contemporains de Shakespeare'' (1863) * ''Contemporains et successeurs de Shakespeare'' (1864) * ''Le Jubilé de Shakespeare, souvenirs de Stratford-sur-Avon'' (1864) * ''

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

et l'Italie nouvelle'' (1865) * '' Pétrarque'' (1868) * ''La Société française : le paysan, l'ouvrier, la bourgeoisie ; l'aristocratie ; les femmes, études morales sur le temps présent'' (1869) * ''Le Siège de Strasbourg en 1870'' (1870) * ''Récits de l'invasion : Alsace et Lorraine'' (1871) * ''W.

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

: Les œuvres expliquées par la vie'' (1872-1873) * ''Éducation morale et instruction civique à l'usage des écoles primaires'' (1883) * ''En France, XVIIIe et XIXe siècles'' (1883) * ''Hors de France. Italie, Espagne, Angleterre, Grèce moderne'' (1883, 1907) * ''Le Collège Sainte-Barbe et les réformes universitaires'' (1885) * ''Morale et patrie, lectures à l'usage des écoles primaires'' (1885) * ''Vie de Mirabeau'' (1892) * ''Morts et vivants'' (1897) * ''Au temps passé'' (1906) * ''Hommes et femmes d'hier et d'avant-hier'' (1907) * ''Silhouettes de soldats'' (1907) * ''De tout un peu'' (1909) * ''Sites délaissés d'Orient'' (1911) * ''Ultima verba'' (1914)

References

External links

Académie française
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mezieres, Alfred 1826 births 1915 deaths People from Meurthe-et-Moselle Politicians from Grand Est French republicans Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 4th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 5th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 6th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic Members of the 7th Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French senators of the Third Republic Senators of Meurthe-et-Moselle Members of the Ligue de la patrie française 19th-century French journalists 19th-century French historians French literary historians Historians of French literature Historians of English literature École Normale Supérieure alumni Members of the Académie Française French male non-fiction writers