Paul Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (11 July 1827 in

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 ...

– 9 July 1881 in Paris), known as Paul de Saint-Victor, a French author and critic. He is likely most known today as a French cultural figure mentioned by

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel ''In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous Eng ...

in the novel ''

In Search of Lost Time ''In Search of Lost Time'' (french: À la recherche du temps perdu), first translated into English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'', and sometimes referred to in French as ''La Recherche'' (''The Search''), is a novel in seven volumes by French ...

''.

Personal

Saint-Victor was born in Paris. His father Jacques Bins, comte de Saint-Victor (1772–1858), is chiefly remembered for his poem ''L'Espérance'', and for an excellent verse translation of

Anacreon Anacreon (; grc-gre, Ἀνακρέων ὁ Τήϊος; BC) was a Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ...

. He had an affair with Lia Félix, a sister of the famous actress

Rachel Félix Elisabeth Félix (21 February 1821 – 3 January 1858), better known only as Mademoiselle Rachel or simply Rachel, was a French actress. She became a prominent figure in French society, and was the mistress of, among others, Napoleon III, Pri ...

. They had a girl, Claire, on 26 October 1860, whose godfather was

Edmond de Goncourt Edmond Louis Antoine Huot de Goncourt (; 26 May 182216 July 1896) was a French writer, literary critic, art critic, book publisher and the founder of the Académie Goncourt. Biography Goncourt was born in Nancy. His parents, Marc-Pierre Huot d ...

. Saint-Victor died in Paris on 9 July 1881.

Career

Saint-Victor ceased using his title as he found it out of keeping with his democratic principles. He began as a drama critic on the ''Pays'' newspaper in 1851, and in 1855 he succeeded

Théophile Gautier Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic. While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rem ...

on the ''Presse''. In 1866 he migrated to the ''Liberté'', and in 1869 joined the staff of the ''Moniteur universel''. In 1870, during the last days of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

, he was made inspector-general of fine arts. Almost all of Saint-Victor's work consists of articles, the best known being the collection entitled ''Hommes et Dieux'' (1867). His death interrupted the publication of ''Les Deux Masques'', in which he intended to survey the whole of ancient and modern dramatic literature. Saint-Victor's critical faculty was considerable, though rather one-sided. He owed a good deal to Théophile Gautier, but his writing was more florid than Gautier's.

Notes

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Alidor Delzant, ''Paul de Saint-Victor'' (1886). {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint-Victor, Paul Bins, comte de 1827 births 1881 deaths Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery French essayists French male essayists