Joseph-Alphonse Esménard (1770, in

Pélissanne Pélissanne (; , Mistralian norm: ''Pelissano'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is located just east of Salon-de-Provence Salon-de-Provence (, ; or , ), ...

– 25 June 1811, in

Fondi Fondi (; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady population growth si ...

) was a French poet, brother of the journalist Jean-Baptiste Esménard and the father of the artists Inès Esménard and Nathalie Elma d'Esménard.

Biography

In 1790, a year after the beginning of the French Revolution, Esménard was a royalist deputy. He was proscribed on 10 August 1792, and consequently left

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

to travel around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, going to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

(present-day

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Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

), and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Returning to Paris in 1797, he wrote for '' La Quotidienne'', and after the

Coup of 18 Fructidor The Coup of 18 Fructidor, Year V (4 September 1797 in the French Republican Calendar), was a seizure of power in France by members of the French Directory, Directory, then forming the government of the First French Republic, with support from th ...

in September, he spent two months in the Prison du Temple. He was forced to emigrate that same year."Joseph-Alphonse Esménard,
Académie Française website
retrieved 23 March 2022 He returned to France again after the

Coup of 18 Brumaire The Coup of 18 Brumaire () brought Napoleon Bonaparte to power as First Consul of the French First Republic. In the view of most historians, it ended the French Revolution and would soon lead to the coronation of Napoleon as Emperor of the Fr ...

in 1799, but afterwards left for

Saint-Domingue Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1803. The name derives from the Spanish main city on the isl ...

as secretary to general Leclerc on the

Saint-Domingue expedition The Saint-Domingue expedition was a large French military invasion sent by Napoleon Bonaparte, then French Consulate, First Consul, under his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc (general, born 1772), Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc in an attempt to ...

to put down the uprising of

Toussaint Louverture François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture (, ) also known as Toussaint L'Ouverture or Toussaint Bréda (20 May 1743 – 7 April 1803), was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. During his life, Louvertu ...

. On his return from this expedition, he was put in charge of censorship in the imperial theatres, a posting he gained for being a protege of the minister of police, Anne Jean Marie René Savary. Soon after this, he left once again to follow Admiral Villaret de Joyeuse to

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, where he served as a writer for ''The Mercury''. Esménard then came back to France, where he was censored of theatres and libraries and the '' Journal de l'Empire'' by the imperial government. In 1810, he was elected to the

Académie française An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He was exiled to Italy for a few months after publishing a satirical article against one of Napoleon's envoys to Russia in the ''Journal de l'Empire''. On his return trip, he died in a carriage accident at

, near

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

Works

Esménard is known for the poem entitled ''La Navigation'', first published in eight verses in 1805, then re-edited to six verses in 1806. Esménard also wrote ''Le triomphe de Trajan'' (The Triumph of Trajan), a three-act opera with music by Jean-François Lesueur, on the life of

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

with allusions to

Napoleon I of France Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. He also wrote the three-act opera '' Fernand Cortez ou la conquête du Mexique'' (Fernand Cortez or the Conquest of Mexico, 1809) in collaboration with Victor-Joseph-Étienne de Jouy, with music by

Gaspare Spontini Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the classical era. During the first two decades of the 19th century, Spontini was an important figure in French ''opera'', and ...

. He also wrote several verses, collected as ''La Couronne poétique de Napoléon'' (1807).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Esmenard French poets French opera librettists 19th-century French writers People of the First French Empire Censors 1770 births 1811 deaths French male poets French male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century French male writers