Sébastien-Roch Nicolas, known in his adult life as Nicolas Chamfort and as Sébastien Nicolas de Chamfort (; 6 April 1741 – 13 April 1794), was a French writer, best known for his
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s and
aphorisms. He was secretary to
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
's sister, and of the
Jacobin club
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
.
Biography
There are two birth certificates for Chamfort. The first, from Saint-Genès parish in
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label=Auvergnat (dialect), Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and Communes of France, commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regions of France, region, with a population ...
, the capital city of
Auvergne
Auvergne (; ; oc, label=Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Auverg ...
, says he was born there on 6 April 1741, the son of a grocer with the surname of Nicolas, and that he was given the name "Sébastien-Roch", so that his full name was Sébastien-Roch Nicolas. But a second birth certificate gives him the name "Sébastien Roch" and says he was born on 22 June, of "unknown parents", and some scholars argue that he was not born but baptized on that day. Local tradition said that he was the love child of an aristocratic woman, Jacqueline de Montrodeix (née Cisternes de Vinzelles), and of a clergyman named Pierre Nicolas; and that he was then given for adoption to the grocer, who was a relative of the biological father.
At the age of nine he was sent to Paris to study as a scholarship student at the
Collège des Grassins
In France, secondary education is in two stages:
* ''Collèges'' () cater for the first four years of secondary education from the ages of 11 to 15.
* ''Lycées'' () provide a three-year course of further secondary education for children between ...
. He worked hard, although one of his most contemptuous
epigram
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...
s reads: "What I learned I no longer know; the little I still know, I guessed" ("''Ce que j'ai appris je ne le sais plus; le peu que je sais encore, je l'ai deviné.''") He was a brilliant though dreamy student. When the principal of the college promised him a stipend, he replied that he could not accept because he preferred honour to honours: "''J'aime l'honneur et non-les honneurs''".
Upon graduation he assumed the name of Chamfort.
For some time he subsisted by teaching and
hack writing. His good looks and ready wit brought him attention; but, though endowed with immense physical strength – Madame de Craon called him "
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
under the guise of
Adonis" (Hercule sous la figure d'Adonis) – he lived so hard that he was glad to have the opportunity for a rest cure in the town of
Spa, Belgium, Spa when the Belgian minister in Paris, M. van Eyck, invited him to accompany him to Germany in 1761. On his return to Paris, Chamfort produced a successful comedy, ''The Young Indian Girl'' (La Jeune Indienne, 1764), following it with a series of epistles in verse, essays and odes. However, his literary reputation was not established until 1769, when the
Académie française
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
awarded him a prize for his ''Eloge'' on
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...
.
Until then, he lived from hand to mouth, mainly on the hospitality of people who gave him board and lodging in exchange for the pleasure of the conversation for which he was famous.
Madame Helvétius Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* Madame (1961 ...
entertained him at Sèvres for some years. In 1770, another comedy, ''Le Marchand de Smyrne'', brought him further notice, and he seemed on the road to fame and fortune, when illness struck. A generous friend gave him a pension of 1200
livres, charged on the ''
Mercure de France
The was originally a French gazette and literary magazine first published in the 17th century, but after several incarnations has evolved as a publisher, and is now part of the Éditions Gallimard publishing group.
The gazette was published f ...
''. Thus assisted, he was able to go to the baths of Contrexéville and to spend some time in the country, where he wrote an ''Eloge'' on
La Fontaine which won the prize of the Academy of Marseilles in 1774.
In 1775, while taking the waters at Barges, he met the duchesse de Grammont, sister of
Choiseul, through whose influence he was introduced at court. In 1776, his tragedy, ''Mustapha et Zeangir'', was played at
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
before
Louis XVI
Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...
and
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...
. Subsequently, the king gave him a further pension of 1200 livres and his cousin, the
Prince de Condé, made him his secretary. Disliking the constraints of court life, he became increasingly discontented, and after a year he resigned his post in the prince's household and retired to
Auteuil Auteuil may refer to:
Places
* Auteuil, Oise, a commune in France
* Auteuil, Paris, a neighborhood of Paris
** Auteuil, Seine, the former commune which was on the outskirts of Paris
* Auteuil, Quebec, a former city that is now a district within ...
. There, comparing the authors of old with his contemporaries, he composed a famous ''mot'' that proclaims the superiority of the dead over the living as companions. He fell in love with and married a lady attached to the household of the duchesse du Maine; she was 48 years old, clever, amusing, and a woman of the world. They soon moved to Vaucouleurs, where she died within six months. Chamfort lived in Holland for a time with M. de Narbonne, then returned to Paris where he was elected in 1781 to the Académie française.
He was a member of the Masonic lodge
Les Neuf SÅ“urs
La Loge des Neuf Sœurs (; The Nine Sisters), established in Paris in 1776, was a prominent French Masonic Lodge of the Grand Orient de France that was influential in organising French support for the American Revolution. A "Société des Neuf Sœ ...
.
In 1784, through the influence of
Calonne, he became secretary to the king's sister,
Madame Élisabeth Madame may refer to:
* Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French
* Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel
* ''Madame'' ( ...
, and in 1786 he received a pension of 2000 livres from the royal treasury. He was thus once more attached to the court, and made friends there despite his satirical attitude. He quit the court for good after an unfortunate and mysterious love affair, and was taken into the house of M. de Vaudreuil. Here, in 1783, he met
Honoré Mirabeau, with whom he remained steadfast friends, whom he assisted with money and influence, and at least one of whose speeches he wrote.
The outbreak 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 ...
profoundly changed Chamfort's life. He threw himself into the
republican movement, forgetting his old friends at court and devoting his small fortune to revolutionary propaganda. He became a street orator and was among the first to enter the
Bastille when it was stormed. Until 3 August 1791 he was secretary of the
Jacobin club
, logo = JacobinVignette03.jpg
, logo_size = 180px
, logo_caption = Seal of the Jacobin Club (1792–1794)
, motto = "Live free or die"(french: Vivre libre ou mourir)
, successor = Pa ...
. He worked for the ''Mercure de France'', collaborated with
Pierre-Louis Ginguené
Pierre-Louis Ginguené (25 April 1748 – 16 November 1816) was a French author.
Biography
He was born at Rennes, in Brittany, and educated at a Jesuit college there. He came to Paris in 1772, and wrote criticisms for the ''Mercure de France''. ...
in the ''Feuille villageoise'', and drew up for
Talleyrand his ''Addresse au peuple français''.
With the reign of
Marat
Marat may refer to:
People
*Marat (given name)
*Marat (surname)
**Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), French political theorist, physician and scientist
Arts, entertainment, and media
*''Marat/Sade'', a 1963 play by Peter Weiss
* ''Marat/Sade'' (fil ...
and
Robespierre
Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre (; 6 May 1758 – 28 July 1794) was a French lawyer and statesman who became one of the best-known, influential and controversial figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Esta ...
, he became critical of uncompromising
Jacobinism, and with the fall of the
Girondins
The Girondins ( , ), or Girondists, were members of a loosely knit political faction during the French Revolution. From 1791 to 1793, the Girondins were active in the Legislative Assembly and the National Convention. Together with the Montagnard ...
his political life came to an end. But he could not restrain the tongue that had made him famous; he no more spared the Convention than he had spared the court. His notorious republicanism failed to excuse the sarcasms he lavished on the new order of things. Fingered by an assistant in the Bibliothèque Nationale, to a share in the direction of which he had been appointed by
Jean Marie Roland
Jean may refer to:
People
* Jean (female given name)
* Jean (male given name)
* Jean (surname)
Fictional characters
* Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character
* Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations
* J ...
, he was taken to the
prison des Madelonnettes. Soon after his release, he was threatened again with arrest, but he decided that death was preferable to a repetition of the moral and physical restraint to which he had been subjected.
Suicide attempt
Unable to tolerate the prospect of being imprisoned once more, in September 1793 he locked himself into his office and shot himself in the face. The pistol malfunctioned and he did not die even though he shot off his nose and his right eye. He then repeatedly stabbed his neck with a razor, but failed to cut an artery. He finally used the razor to stab himself in the chest and to cut his own hocks, aiming at the veins. He dictated to those who came to arrest him the well-known declaration ''Moi, Sebastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort, déclare avoir voulu mourir en homme libre plutôt que d'être reconduit en esclave dans une maison d'arrêt'' (''"I, Sebastien-Roch Nicolas de Chamfort, hereby declare my wish to die a free man rather than to be brought (again) as a slave in a prison"'') which he signed in a firm hand. His butler found him unconscious in a pool of blood. From then until his death in Paris the following year, he suffered intensely and was attended to by a
gendarme
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "Man-at-arms, men-at-arms" ...
, whom he paid a crown a day.
To the
Abbé Sieyès Chamfort had given fortune in the title of a pamphlet (''Qu'est-ce que le Tiers-État ? Tout. Qu'a-t-il ? Rien''), and Sieyès was likewise the person to whom he told his famous sarcastic ''bon mot'' ''Ah ! mon ami, je m'en vais enfin de ce monde, où il faut que le cœur se brise ou se bronze'' (And so I leave this world, where the heart must either break or turn to lead.) Thus the maker of constitutions followed the dead wit to the grave.
Writings
The writings of Chamfort include comedies, political articles, literary criticisms, portraits, letters, and verses. His ''Maximes et Pensées'', highly praised by
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 7 May 1873) was an English philosopher, political economist, Member of Parliament (MP) and civil servant. One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical liberalism, he contributed widely to ...
, are, after those of
La Rochefoucauld, among the most brilliant and suggestive sayings of the modern era. His aphorisms, less systematic and psychologically less important than those of La Rochefoucauld, are as significant in their violence and iconoclastic spirit of the period of storm and preparation that gave them birth as the ''Réflexions'' in their exquisite restraint and elaborate subtlety are characteristic of the tranquil elegance of their epoch. Moreover, they have the advantage of richness of colour, picturesqueness of phrase, passion, and audacity.
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 ...
compares them to well-minted coins that retain their value, and to keen arrows that ''arrivent brusquement et sifflent encore''. Although situated at the exact opposite of the political spectrum (see
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 ...
) the maxims of
Antoine de Rivarol
Antoine de Rivarol (26 June 175311 April 1801) was a Royalist French writer and translator who lived during the Revolutionary era. He was briefly married to the translator Louisa Henrietta de Rivarol.
Biography
Rivarol was born in Bagnols, La ...
are among those that easily compare in acidity and brilliance.
Works
* Praise of Molière, crowned (1769)
* The Fountain of Praise (1774)
* The young Indian (1764);
* The Merchant of Smythe, comedy
* Mustapha and Zéangir, traged.
['' Dictionnaire Bouillet'']
Collected works
* By Pierre Louis GINGUENE, 1795, 4 vols.
* (original edition Auguis, 1824, 5 vol.)
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
Sources
*
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
frenchphilosophes.weebly.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamfort, Nicolas
1741 births
1794 deaths
Writers from Clermont-Ferrand
18th-century French male writers
18th-century French poets
18th-century French journalists
18th-century French dramatists and playwrights
Members of the Académie Française
Aphorists
French male poets
18th-century suicides
Suicides by firearm in France
Suicides by sharp instrument in France