Théodore-Éloi Lebreton (1 December 1803 – 12 December 1883) was a 19th-century autodidact French poet,

chansonnier A chansonnier (, , Galician and , or ''canzoniéro'', ) is a manuscript or printed book which contains a collection of chansons, or polyphonic and monophonic settings of songs, hence literally " song-books"; however, some manuscripts are call ...

and

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

Biography

Born as the child of a day laborer father and a washerwoman mother, Lebreton entered at age seven in an indienne factory in his hometown where he was taught the printing trade on fabrics. Barely able to spell, he learned, through perseverance, to read and write and, after a few years, he felt the desire to tell what he felt. Aged fourteen, he had succeeded, through saving his salary to complete his education by going to the theater, to be a great worker and educated in his workshop. The taste of poetry being born in him, he was induced by the inspiration and breathed in to the impressions of his soul, his pains, joys, hopes and loves.

Marceline Desbordes-Valmore Marceline Desbordes-Valmore (20 June 1786 – 23 July 1859) was a French Romanticism, French Romantic poet and novelist. Early life and education Desbordes-Valmore was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her father's business was ...

presented the poet's essays to ' and eventually, in 1836, a man of letters from Rouen, Ch. Richard, drew attention on him by writing a sketch of his life as a worker and thinker and contributed to the publication of a collection of his poems. Until then, Lebreton had remained in his workshop but by that time, the city of Rouen having acquired the Leber collection of books, Lebreton was appointed to the newly created position of sub-librarian at Rouen library to administer it. In 1848, Lebreton was elected to represent the

Seine-Inférieure Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

department at the Assemblée constituante but wasn't reelected to the Assemblée législative. A religious poet, Lebreton, in his first poems, painted the misery of the worker without seeing no other remedy than resignation on earth and rest in heaven; Later, his outrage took a keener focus without going further. A member of several

learned societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

, this humble man also published several songbooks in his hometown of Rouen, although he was much better known in Paris. Lebreton's great work is his ''Biographie normande; recueil de notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les personnages célèbres nés en Normandie et sur ceux qui se sont seulement distingués par leurs actions et par leurs écrits'' et sa ''Biographie rouennaise; recueil de notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les personnages célèbres nés à Rouen qui se sont rendus célèbres ou qui se sont distingués à des titres différents''. He also wrote ''Corneille chez le savetier, scène historique de la vie de

Pierre Corneille Pierre Corneille (; ; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great 17th-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronage ...

'', in collaboration with M. Beuzeville presented at the Théâtre des Arts de Rouen 29 June 1841.

Publications

*1867–1861: ''Biographie normande; recueil de notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les personnages célèbres nés en Normandie et sur ceux qui se sont seulement distingués par leurs actions et par leurs écrits'', Rouen, Le Brument *1865: ''Biographie rouennaise; recueil de notices biographiques et bibliographiques sur les personnages célèbres nés à Rouen qui se sont rendus célèbres ou qui se sont distingués à des titres différents'', Rouen, Le Brument *1869: ''À la France ! cantate chantée au théâtre du cirque impérial à l’occasion du centenaire de Napoléon Ier'', Rouen, Orville and Joignant *1841: ''Baptême de S. A. R. Mgr le comte de Paris, cantate 5 avril 1841', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1839: ''Candidature de Théodore Lebreton, ouvrier-poète, actuellement attaché à la Bibliothèque de Rouen : aux électeurs du Département de la Seine-Inférieure'', Rouen, .n.*1841: ''Corneille chez le savetier, scène historique de la vie de Pierre Corneille'', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1845: ''Espoir, poésies nouvelles'', Éd. Amélie Bosquet, Paris, Comptoir des imprimeurs unis *1842: '' Géricault, dithyrambe'', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1837
''Heures de repos d’un ouvrier''
Rouen, E. Le Grand *1834: ''Hommage au grand Corneille'', Rouen, F. Baudry *1841: ''

Jeanne d'Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

'', Rouen, I.-S. Lefèvre *1800: ''La Marseillaise des travailleurs : chant national'', .l. Lecointe frères *1842: ''La Mort de Mgr le duc d’Orléans. Juillet 1842'', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1859: ''La Paix de Villafranca'', Rouen, Giroux et Renaux *1842: ''Les Inondations. Pèlerinage à Fécamp, Yport, Vaucotte et

Étretat Étretat () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-Maritime Departments of France, department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy Regions of France, region of Northwestern France. It is a Tourism, tourist and Agriculture, far ...

. Pièces de vers'', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1833: ''L’Oiseau captif'', ''Souffrances d’hiver'' de Turquety, Paris, L. Boitel *1842: ''Nouvelles Heures de repos d’un ouvrier'', Rouen, Nicétas Périaux *1834: ''Ode sur la mort de Boïeldieu'', Rouen, F. Baudry *1853: ''Un jardin et une église de Rouen'', Rouen, D. Brière

Sources

* Ferdinand Hoefer, '' Nouvelle Biographie Générale'', t. 30, Paris, Firmin-Didot, 1855, (p. 128–9). * Noémi-Noire Oursel, ''Nouvelle Biographie normande'', Paris, A. Picard, 1886, (p. 73). *

External links

Théodore-Éloi Lebreton
on data.bnf.fr {{DEFAULTSORT:Lebreton, Theodore-Eloi 19th-century French poets French chansonniers French bibliographers Writers from Rouen Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic 1803 births 1883 deaths