Hyacinthe-Joseph Alexandre Thabaud de Latouche, commonly known as Henri de Latouche (2 February 1785 – 9 March 1851) was a French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

known for his publication of

André Chénier André Marie Chénier (; 30 October 176225 July 1794) was a French poet of Greek and Franco-Levantine origin, associated with the events of the French Revolution of which he was a victim. His sensual, emotive poetry marks him as one of the precur ...

and early encouragement of

George Sand Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil (; 1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pen name George Sand (), was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist. One of the most popular writers in Europe in her lifetime, bein ...

. (His family name is also seen as "Thabaud de La Touche" and even sometimes "Delatouche".)

Life

He was born at

La Châtre La Châtre () is a commune in the Indre department in central France. Population Personalities *It was the birthplace of Henri de Latouche and Emile Acollas. André Boillot the auto racing driver crashed here in 1932 and died from his injuries. ...

(

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

). Among his works may be distinguished his comedies: ''Projets de sagesse'' (1811), and, in collaboration with

Émile Deschamps Émile de Saint-Amand Deschamps (; 20 February 179123 April 1871) was a French poet. He was born at Bourges. The son of a civil servant, he adopted his father's career, but as early as 1812 he distinguished himself by an ode, ''La Paix conquise ...

, ''Selmours de Florian'' (1818), which ran for a hundred nights; also ''La Reine d'Espagne'' (1831), which proved too indecent for the public taste; a novel, ''Fragoletta ou Naples et Paris en 1799'' (1829), which attained a success of notoriety; ''La Vallée aux loups'' (1833), a volume of prose essays and verse; and two volumes of poems, ''Les Adieus'', (1843) and ''Les Agrestes'' (1844). Latouche's chief claim to remembrance is that he revealed to the world the genius of

, then only known to a limited few. The remains of the poet's work had passed from the hands of Daunou to Latouche, who had sufficient critical insight instantly to recognize their value. In editing the first selection of Chénier's poems (1819) he made some trifling emendations, but did not, as Beranger afterwards asserted, make radical and unnecessary changes. Latouche was guilty of more than one literary fraud. He caused a licentious story of his own to be attributed to the duchess of Duras, the irreproachable author of ''

Ourika ''Ourika'' is an 1823 novel by Claire de Duras, originally published anonymously. Overview ''Ourika'' is a story based on the life of a woman who was purchased as a child (in or around 1786) by the Chevalier de Boufflers, the colonial admini ...

''. He made many enemies by malicious attacks on his contemporaries. The '' Constitutionnel'' was suppressed in 1817 by the government for an obscure political allusion in an article by Latouche. He then undertook the management of the '' Mercure du XIXe siècle'', and began a bitter warfare against the monarchy. After 1830 he edited ''

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...

'', and spared neither the liberal politicians nor the romanticists who triumphed under the monarchy of July. In his turn he was violently attacked by

Gustave Planche Jean Baptiste Gustave Planche (16 February 1808 – 18 September 1857) was a French art and literary critic. Life and career Already in his time as a medical student, Planche frequented artistic circles. This did nothing to promote the success of ...

in the ''

Revue des deux mondes The ''Revue des deux Mondes'' (, ''Review of the Two Worlds'') is a monthly French-language literary, cultural and current affairs magazine that has been published in Paris since 1829. According to its website, "it is today the place for debates a ...

'' for November 1831. But it must be remembered to the credit of Latouche that he did much to encourage George Sand at the beginning of her career. The last twenty years of his life were spent in retirement at Val d’Aulnay.

Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

, in the ''Causeries du lundi'', vol. 3, gives a not too sympathetic portrait of Latouche. See also George Sand in the ''Siecle'' for the 18th, 19th and 20 July 1851.

References

;Attribution *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latouche, Henri de 1785 births 1851 deaths People from Indre French poets 19th-century French novelists French male poets French male novelists 19th-century French male writers Le Figaro people