Antoine Fabre d'Olivet (8 December 1767,

Ganges, Hérault Ganges (; Languedocien: ''Gange'') is a commune in the Hérault department in Occitanie in southern France. Location Ganges is situated at the confluence of the Hérault and Rieutord rivers. History The castle, of which only ruins remain ...

– 25 March 1825,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

) was a French author, poet and composer whose Biblical and philosophical

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

influenced many

occultist The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism an ...

s, such as

Eliphas Lévi Eliphaz is one of Esau's sons in the Bible. Eliphaz or Eliphas is also the given name of: * Eliphaz (Job), another person in the Bible * Eliphaz Dow (1705-1755), the first male executed in New Hampshire, for murder * Eliphaz Fay (1797–1854), ...

Gérard Encausse Gérard Anaclet Vincent Encausse (July 13, 1865 – 25 October 1916), whose esoteric pseudonyms were Papus and Tau Vincent, was a French physician, hypnotist, and popularizer of occultism, who founded the modern Martinist Order. Early li ...

("Papus") and

Édouard Schuré Eduard (Édouard) Schuré (January 21, 1841 in Strasbourg – April 7, 1929 in Paris) was a French philosopher, poet, playwright, novelist, music critic, and publicist of esoteric literature. Biography Schuré was the son of a doctor in ...

. His best known works are on the research of the

Hebrew language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and the history of the human race entitled (1) ''The Hebraic Tongue Restored: And the True Meaning of the Hebrew Words Re-Established and Proved by their Radical Analysis'', and (2) ''Hermeneutic Interpretation of the Origin of the Social State of Man and of the Destiny of the Adamic Race''. Other works of renown are on the sacred art of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

entitled ''Music Explained as Science and as Art and Considered in its Analog Relationship with Religious Mysteries, Ancient Mythology and the History of the Earth'', and a translation and commentary of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samos, Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionians, Ionian Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher and the eponymou ...

's thirty-six Golden Verses. His interest in

and the resulting works started a revival of

Neo-Pythagoreanism Neopythagoreanism (or neo-Pythagoreanism) was a school of Hellenistic philosophy which revived Pythagorean doctrines. Neopythagoreanism was influenced by middle Platonism and in turn influenced Neoplatonism. It originated in the 1st century BC ...

that would later influence many occultists and new age spiritualists. He attempted an alternative interpretation of Genesis, based on what he considered to be connections between the Hebrew alphabet and

hieroglyphs A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred carvings") was a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system. Logographic scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also sometimes called "hieroglyphs". In Neoplatonis ...

. The discovery of the

Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a Rosetta Stone decree, decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle te ...

and the subsequent

decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs The writing systems used in ancient Egypt were decipherment, deciphered in the early nineteenth century through the work of several European scholars, especially Jean-François Champollion and Thomas Young (scientist), Thomas Young. Ancient Egy ...

that followed would prove much of this particular work technically mistaken. He was declared a non-person by

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

. An interesting story involves his supposed healing of a deaf boy, Rodolphe Grivel, of his hearing impairment, and then having Napoleon officially declare that he is never again to heal another person of deafness. He indicates that he kept the letter of notice out of amusement. Outside of

esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas a ...

, he also invented the poetic measure of ''eumolpique''. He had an discussion with

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

over the British poet's publishing of a play, ''

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

'', in which he said that since both of them were raised as reformed Protestants, he wrote: "We can understand one another perfectly; and if I didn't have anything to reprove you as a heretic, you would not have to fear my orthodoxy". D'Olivet thought that because

did not use the original Hebraic version of the text of Sacred Scripture, but instead a misleading English translation in the play, is therefore leading others towards falsity and away from truth.https://sca.org.br/uploads/news/id35/20LordByron.pdf

Early life and education

Born Antoine Fabre on 8 December 1767, but later changing his name to Fabre d'Olivet by dropping the name 'Antoine' and adding his mother's name d'Olivet, he grew up in the

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

province in the south of France. When he reached the age of eleven or twelve he was sent to Paris by his father, a businessman in the international silk industry, who wished his son to receive a good education and assist the family business. He spent five years in the French capital, where he learned Latin, Greek and English. Having completed his studies, in 1786 he travelled as a salesman for his father's company, learning German in the process, but with little commercial success. During his travels he met a young woman, Chrisna; the effects of the encounter on him were long-lasting and later inspired the first of his songs to be published.

Revolutionary period and aftermath

Antoine Fabre returned to Paris in 1789, ostensibly for purposes related to his father's firm. However, Paris was about to undergo revolutionary upheaval later in the year and he became actively involved in political pursuits; recalling the period later in his life, he wrote that he had written speeches designed to appeal to moderate Parisians. Although his political stance during this era would later cause him problems, he survived both the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, and the subsequent period of terror it unleashed, unscathed. Following this period of political upheaval, he turned his attention to his artistic interests. These included both music and literature, and during this time he wrote for the stage – both drama and the libretto for the

Paris Opéra The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be k ...

's 1794 work ''Toulon soumis'' – as well as poetry, fiction and journalism. It was at this time that he changed his name to Fabre d'Olivet. D'Olivet's father fared less well after the Revolution; his silk business failed and consequently his son's own prospects of financial independence were ended. As a result, Fabre d'Olivet sought employment and in 1799 secured work in the French War Ministry. In his autobiography, ''Mes souvenirs'' (published posthumously), he later admitted that he worked on a number of personal literary projects instead of fulfilling his official duties. The year after joining the War Ministry, he fell in love with Julie Marcel but decided against marrying her. Her death in 1802, after they had parted, later influenced his philosophical thinking; he claimed that she had appeared to him on several occasions, and he credited her with his theories concerning both the soul's immortality and Providence.

Works

* ''Le Quatorze de juillet 1789, fait historique en 1 acte et en vers'', Paris, théâtre des Associés, juillet 1790. * ''Toulon soumis, fait historique, opéra en un acte'', Paris, théâtre national de l’Opéra, 4 mars 179
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* ''Le Sage de l’Indostan, drame philosophique en 1 acte et en vers, mêlé de chœurs de musique'', Paris, Institut national des aveugles-travailleurs, thermidor an IV (1796) * ''Azalaïs et le gentil Aimar, histoire provençale, traduite d’un ancien manuscrit provençal'', Maradan, Paris, 1798, * ''Lettres à Sophie sur l’histoire'' (2 vol., 1801). Réédition en un vol., précédée d'une introduction par Emmanuel Dufour-Kowalski. Collection Delphica, L’Âge d’homme, Lausanne, 2009. * ''Le Troubadour, poésies occitaniques'' (1803). Réédition : Lacour, Nîmes, 1997. * ''Notions sur le sens de l’ouïe en général, et en particulier sur la guérison de Rodolphe Grivel, sourd-muet de naissance en une série de lettres écrites par Fabre d’Olivet'' (1811)
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Réédition de l'édition de 1819, augmentée des éclaircissements nécessaires, des Notes et des pièces justificatives à l'appui. Avec une introduction inédite d'Eudoxie Fabre d'Olivet, précédés de considérations préliminaires par Emmanuel Dufour-Kowalski. Nouvelle Bibliothèque Initiatique, série 2, n°6. Slatkine, Genève, 2014. * ''Les Vers dorés de Pythagore, expliqués et traduits pour la première fois en vers eumolpiques français, précédés d’un Discours sur l’essence et la forme de la poésie, chez les principaux peuples de la terre'' (1813). Réédition : L’Âge d’homme, Lausanne, 1991 et 2010
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* ''La Langue hébraïque restituée et le véritable sens des mots hébreux rétabli et prouvé par leur analyse radicale, ouvrage dans lequel on trouve réunis : (1) une dissertation sur l’origine de la parole; (2) une grammaire hébraïque; (3) une série de racines hébraïques; (4) un discours préliminaire; (5) une traduction en français des dix premiers chapitres du Sépher, contenant la Cosmogonie de Moyse'' (1815). Réédition : L’Âge d’homme, Lausanne, 1985. Nouvelle édition augmentée d'une lettre de Fabre d'Olivet à Monsieur La Grange et de la transcription imprimée du manuscrit de la Théodoxie Universelle. Collection Delphica L'Age d'Homme, Lausanne, 2010
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* ''De l’état social de l’homme, ou Vues philosophiques sur l’histoire du genre humain, précédées d’une dissertation introductive sur les motifs et l’objet de cet ouvrage'' (2 vol., 1822
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* ''Caïn, mystère dramatique en trois actes de ''lord Byron'', traduit en vers français et réfuté dans une suite de remarques philosophiques et critiques'' (1823). Réédition : Slatkine, Genève, 1981. * ''Histoire philosophique du genre humain, ou L’homme considéré sous ses rapports religieux et politiques dans l’état social, à toutes les époques et chez les différents peuples de la terre, précédée d’une dissertation introductive sur les motifs et l’objet de cet ouvrage'' (2 vol., 1824). Réédition : Éditions traditionnelles, Paris, 1966. * ''Le Retour aux beaux-arts, dithyrambe pour l’année 1824'' (1824) ;Posthumous publications * ''La Musique expliquée comme science et comme art et considérée dans ses rapports analogiques avec les mystères religieux, la mythologie ancienne et l’histoire de la terre'' (1896). Réédition : L’Âge d’homme, Lausanne, 1974
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* ''La Vraie Maçonnerie et la céleste culture'', texte inédit avec introduction et notes critiques par Léon Cellier, Presses universitaires de France, Paris, 1952; La Proue, Lausanne, 1973. Réédition, coll. Delphica L'Age d'Homme, 2010. * ''Mes souvenirs'', Boumendil, Nice, 1977. * ''Miscellanea Fabre d’Olivet (1). Oratorio à l’occasion de la fête du sacre et du couronnement de S.M. l’Empereur. Prédictions politiques. Idamore ou le Prince africain. Vers à mes amis pour le jour de ma fête'', publié par Gilbert Tappa, Boumendil, Nice, 1978. * ''Miscellanea Fabre d’Olivet (2). Antoine Fabre d’Olivet et les concours de l’Institut : Discours sur les avantages et les inconvénients de la critique littéraire. Dissertation sur le rythme et la prosodie des anciens et des modernes'', publié par Gilbert Tappa, Boumendil, Nice, 1982. * ''La Langue d’Oc rétablie dans ses principes'', Steinfeld, Ganges, 1989.

Bibliography

* Emmanuel Dufour-Kowalski: ''Fabre d'Olivet, Le Théosophe Immortel''. L'Âge d'Homme, Paris, 2014, () * Christian Anatole, Robert Lafont, ''Nouvelle histoire de la littérature occitane'', Paris, P.U.F., 1970. * Léon Cellier et Jean-Claude Richard (éd.), ''Fabre d’Olivet (1767-1825) : Contribution à l’étude des aspects religieux du romantisme'', Nizet, Paris, 1953. Réédition : Slatkine, Genève, 1998 () * Jean Pinasseau, ''Lettres et documents inédits pour servir une biographie de A. Fabre d’Olivet'', Issy-les-Moulineaux, 1931. Extrait du ''Bulletin de l’histoire du protestantisme'', no. 3, juillet-septembre 1931. * Sédir, ''Éléments d’hébreu, d’après la méthode de Fabre d’Olivet'', Ollendorff, Paris, 1901. * Valérie Van Crugten-André, ''Les Aveugles dans la littérature française du XVIIIe siècle. Autour du Sage de l’Indostan de Fabre d’Olivet'' in ''Voir'', Ligue Braille (Belgique), no. 18, May 1999, pp. 46–53. * Philippe Gardy, ''L’Exil des origines. Renaissance littéraire et renaissance linguistique en pays de langue d’oc aux XIXe et XXe siècles'', 2006 () * Philippe Gardy, ''L’Œuvre poétique occitane d’Antoine Fabre d’Olivet : sujet littéraire et sujet linguistique'' in ''L’Occitanie Romantique, Actes du colloque de Pau, 1994, Annales de Littérature Occitane 3'', CELO, Pau, 1997, pp. 147–165. * ''Fabre d’Olivet (1767-1825), poète occitaniste, hébraïsant et théosophe'', ''Revue La France latine, Revue d’études d’oc'', no. 138, 2004. * Georg Kremnitz, ''Fabre d’Olivet reconsidéré'', ''Revue Lengas'', 18, 1985, pp. 408–421. * André Tanner (éd.), ''Gnostiques de la révolution. Tome II : Fabre d’Olivet'', Egloff, Paris, 1946. * Joscelyn Godwin, Fabre d'Olive

References

External links

La Cosmogonie de Moyse; La Langue hébraîque Restituée, t. 1; Vers dorés de Pythagore
Versions des Éditions de L’Âge d’Homme, Delphica, 1991.

Version after Fabre d’Olivet.
Antoine Fabre d'Olivet
on Philosophia Perennis {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabre d'Olivet, Antoine 1767 births 1825 deaths 18th-century French novelists 19th-century French novelists 18th-century French dramatists and playwrights French occultists French Hebraists French Protestants Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery 19th-century occultists