Henriette Renan (; 22 July 181124 September 1861) was a French writer.

Biography

Renan was born into a fishing family in Tréguier, Brittany, France where she lived in the large house bought by her grandfather. Her father was captain of a small cutter and a staunch Republican. Her mother was only half-Breton since her paternal ancestors hailed from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. Her mother's father was a royalist tradesman from the neighbouring town of

Lannion Lannion ( ; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of Côtes-d'Armor, the capital of Trégor and the center of an urban area of almost 60,000 inhabitants. Climate Lannion has a ...

. Renan was 17 years old when her father died and she became the head of the household, in particular, taking responsibility for her 5-year-old brother

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, expert of Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote influe ...

(he would later become a well known philosopher). After failing to open a girls' school in Tréguier, Renan moved to Paris to teach, where she met Sophie Ulliac. She became tutor to a Polish family with whom she toured Europe. She later moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

as tutor for Count

Zamoyski The House of Zamoyski (plural: Zamoyscy) is the name of an important Polish noble (szlachta) family, which used the Jelita coat of arms. It is the Polish term for "de Zamość" (Polish "z Zamościa"), the name they originally held as lords of Z ...

. Renan wrote for ''Le Journal des jeunes personnes'' (edited by Sophie Ulliac between 1846 and 1857) and other

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...

under pseudonyms including Emma du Guindy. Since she had become financially independent, she was able to support her mother, pay for her brother's education, and pay off her father's debts. Renan had a great influence on her brother, acting as mother, sister, confidante and adviser.

Works

Renan was more than a secretary for the works on

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

conducted by her brother. Ernest Renan relied on her research and on her numerous re-reviews and critiques of his own writings.

Death

In 1860, Henriette joined Ernest and his wife Cornélie in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

while Ernest conducted archaeological investigations in both Lebanon and

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. They stayed in the home of Zakhia Chalhoub el-Kallab and his son Abdallah Zakhia el Kallab, a notable

Maronite The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the larges ...

family in the

Amsheet Amsheet (, '; also spelled Amchit) is a seaside town and municipality in the Byblos District of Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, Lebanon, about 40 km north of Beirut. The town's average elevation is 140 meters above sea level and its total land a ...

region of

Byblos Byblos ( ; gr, Βύβλος), also known as Jbeil or Jubayl ( ar, جُبَيْل, Jubayl, locally ; phn, 𐤂𐤁𐤋, , probably ), is a city in the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. It is believed to have been first occupied between 880 ...

, whose ancestors had been ennobled by an

Ottoman Sultan The sultans of the Ottoman Empire ( tr, Osmanlı padişahları), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to its dissolution in 1922. At its hei ...

and who had founded the first hospital in Lebanon, Saint-Michel d'Amchit. Already in poor health, Renan died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in Amsheet on 24 September 1861. She is buried in the vault of Mikhaël Bek Tobia al-Kallab in Amsheet near the church of Notre-Dame.

Bibliography

Works by Henriette Renan

* ''Souvenirs et Impressions, Pologne, Rome, Allemagne, voyage en Syrie'', edited by Henri Moncel with an introduction by Mary Duclaux (1930) * ''Correspondance intime, 1842-1845'' * ''Nouvelles lettres intimes, 1846-1850'' (1923)

Works about Henriette Renan

* * * * * * * * Thèse de doctorat (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renan, Henriette 1811 births 1861 deaths 19th-century French writers French women writers Writers from Brittany Deaths in Lebanon