Pierre Lanfrey (26 October 1828 – 15 November 1877) was a French

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Life

He was born at Chambéry (

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

). His father had been one of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's officers. The son studied

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and

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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 ...

and wrote historical works of an anti-clerical and rationalizing tendency. These included: *''L'Église et les philosophes au dix-huitième siècle'' (1855; new edition, with a notice of the author by E. de Pressensé, 1879) *''Essai sur la révolution française'' (1858) *''Histoire politique des papes'' (1860) *''Lettres d'Evérard'' (1860), a novel in the form of letters *''Le Rétablissement de la Pologne'' (1863) His

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

was his ''Histoire de Napoleon I'' (5 vols., 1867–1875 and 1886; Eng. trans., 4 vols, 1871–1879), which ceased at the end of 1811 with the preparations for the

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n campaign of 1812. This book, based on the emperor's correspondence published in 1858-1870, attempted the destruction of the legends which had grown up around his subject, and sought by a critical examination of the documents to explain the motives of his policy. In his desire to refute current misconceptions and

exaggerations Exaggeration is the representation of something as more extreme or dramatic than it really is. Exaggeration may occur intentionally or unintentionally. Exaggeration can be a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke stron ...

of Napoleon's abilities, Lanfrey unduly minimized his military and administrative genius. A staunch republican, he was elected to the National Assembly in 1871, became ambassador at

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

(1871-1813), and life senator in 1875. He died at Pau on the 15 November 1877.

References

;Attribution ; Endnotes: * ''Œuvres complètes'' were published in 12 vols. (1879 seq.) * ' in 2 vols. (1885). {{DEFAULTSORT:Lanfrey, Pierre 1828 births 1877 deaths French life senators 19th-century French historians French male non-fiction writers 19th-century French male writers