Lucien-Anatole Prévost-Paradol (; 8 August 1829 – 20 July 1870) was a French

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

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ist.

Background

Prévost-Paradol was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, France, conceived through an irregular liaison between the opera singer Lucinde Paradol and the writer Léon Halévy. When Halévy later married Alexandrine Le Bas, his wife agreed to adopt the child, who was then brought up with their own children.

Education and works

Prévost-Paradol was educated at the College Bourbon and entered the

École Normale École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...

. In 1855, he was appointed professor of

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. He held the post barely a year, resigning it to become a leader-writer on the ''Journal des débats''. He also wrote in the ''Courrier du dimanche'', and for a very short time in the ''Presse''. His chief works are ''Essais de politique et de littérature'' (three series, 1859–1866), and ''Essais sur les moralistes français'' (1864). He was, however, rather a journalist than a writer of books, and was one of the chief opponents of the empire on the side of moderate

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

. He underwent the usual difficulties of a journalist under that regime, and was once imprisoned. In 1865, 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 ...

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

referred to him in his novel ''The Growth of a Soul'':

Death

He committed suicide in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

by gunshot. He shot himself on 11 July 1870, and died nine days later, on account of the Franco-Prussian War while serving as French ambassador to the United States.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prevost-Paradol, Lucien Anatole Members of the Académie Française Writers from Paris Suicides by firearm in Washington, D.C. 1829 births 1870 deaths 1870s suicides Ambassadors of France to the United States 19th-century French journalists French male journalists French male writers French people of German-Jewish descent French male essayists 19th-century French male writers 19th-century French essayists