Pierre Martin Victor Richard de Laprade (13 January 181213 December 1883), known as Victor de Laprade, was a French poet and critic.

Biography

He was born at

Montbrison, Loire Montbrison (; frp, Montbréson) is a commune and a subprefecture of the Loire department in central France. Montbrison was the historical capital of the counts of Forez, and today it is the principal city in the Forez. The commune gives its ...

, of a modest provincial family. After completing his studies at

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, he produced, in 1839, a small volume of religious verse, ''Les Parfums de Madeleine''. This was followed in 1840 by ''La colère de Jesus'', in 1841 by the religious fantasy of ''Psyche'', and in 1844 by ''Odes et poèmes''. In 1845 Laprade visited Italy on a mission of literary research, and in 1847 he was appointed professor of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

at Lyon. The Académie française, by a single vote, preferred

Émile Augier Guillaume Victor Émile Augier (; 17 September 182025 October 1889) was a French dramatist. He was the thirteenth member to occupy seat 1 of the Académie française on 31 March 1857. Biography Augier was born at Valence, Drôme, the grandson o ...

at the election in 1857, but in the following year Laprade was chosen to fill the place vacated by Alfred de Musset. In 1861 Laprade was removed from his post at Lyon owing to the publication of a poem satirising 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 ...

(''Les Musées d'Etat''), and in 1871 was elected to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...

as a conservative. A statue was erected in his memory at Montbrison. Besides those named above, Laprade's poetic works include ''Poèmes évangéliques'' (1852), ''Idylles héroïques'' (1858), ''Les Voix du silence'' (1864), ''Pernette'' (1868), ''Poèmes civiles'' (1873), ''Le Livre d'un père'' (1877), ''Varia and Livre des adieux'' (1878-1879). His prose works include ''Des habitudes intellectuelles de l'avocat'' (1840), ''Questions d'art et de morale'' (1861), ''Le Sentiment de la nature, avant le Christianisme'' in 1866, ''Chez les modernes'' in 1868, and ''Education libérale'' in 1873. In some cases these works had been previously printed after delivery as a lecture. He also contributed articles to the '' Revue des deux mondes'' and the ''Revue de Paris''. Laprade's subject was French provincial life, its culture, its piety, and its sober patriotism. His poetry belongs to the school of Chateaubriand and

Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869), was a French author, poet, and statesman who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic and the continuation of the Tricolore as the flag of France. ...

, imitating classical models, inspired by a sense of the ideal, and worshipping nature as revealing the divine. However, he never attained a great level of popularity. His work has much in common with the English

Lake School Lake School was a public elementary school in the Near North Side neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The school was one of Omaha's " black schools", and served grade one through grade eight. It closed in the 1970s. History Built in ...

. Laprade's prose criticisms consist of classical and

metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

studies, as well as wide-ranging commentary on European literature. He disliked irony and

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

, which probably lead him to underrate

18th-century literature Literature of the 18th century refers to world literature produced during the years 1700–1799. European literature in the 18th century European literature of the 18th century refers to literature (poetry, drama, satire, and novels) produced in ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laprade, Victor de 1812 births 1883 deaths People from Montbrison, Loire Members of the Académie Française French poets French male poets 19th-century poets 19th-century French male writers