Jean-François Boisard (born around 1762 – 1820) in

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

painter and poet. Boisard was initially interested in

painting Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

but shifted to

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

constructively. He left France at the time of 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 was part of the "émigration", namely the royalist families supposed to plot against the new regime from foreign countries. He nevertheless returned to France at the worst moment, namely during the "Terreur" of 1793, during which close to 40,000 persons were arrested and executed. He was himself condemned to death but escaped the sentencing for unknown reasons. He then lived a miserable life, constantly on the move and dependent on alms and the assistance of dignitaries for whom he wrote dedications. His fate somewhat improved with the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * ...

in 1815. He published two collections of some 300 fables "dedicated to the king", in 1817 and 1822 (''Fables dédiées au roi''). Their quality can certainly not be compared with the work of his uncle. The date of his death is not known precisely but was between 1821 and 1823.

Works

*''Fables dédiées au roi'', Paris 1817. *''Fables faisant suite à celles qui sont dédiées au roi''. Paris, 1822.

References

*Frere, Edouard: ''Manuel du bibliographe normand''. Rouen, 1858. Vol I *Grente, Georges: ''Dictionnaires des Lettres françaises''. Le Dix-huitième siècle. Paris 1960, Vol. I *Hoefer, Jean Chrétien Ferdinand: ''Nouvelle Biographie générale, depuis les temps les plus reculés jusqu’à nos jours''. Paris, 1862. Vol. VI *''La Grande Encyclopédie, inventaire raisonné des Sciences, des Lettres et des Arts'', Paris 1902, Tome VII *Encyclopédie universelle du XXe siècle, Lettres, Sciences, Arts. Paris 1908, Tome II NOTE: One can notice that, in consulting the above-mentioned references, several other Boisard appear. They are less known authors of the 18th – 19th centuries, such as for instance: François Boisard who published a novel in 5 volumes, Pastorale, and various studies on the topography and the history of the cities of his region (Calvados). Another Boisard was a regular contributor to the Mémorial du Calvados and the author of a work on "Les Cziganys de Hongrie" (The Gypsies of Hungary). Claude Florimond Boisard (de Ponteau) was a famous comic author. Moreover, he was the author of almost all mimes and ballets presented at the

Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief rival, the Comédie-Italienne ...

de Paris, when his was its director, from 1728 to 1742.

External links

Artists from Caen 1762 births 1821 deaths Writers from Caen 18th-century French painters French male painters 19th-century French painters 19th-century French poets People of the French Revolution French fabulists 19th-century French male artists 18th-century French male artists {{France-poet-stub