Étienne Pivert de Senancour facts for kids
Étienne-Jean-Baptiste-Pierre-Ignace Pivert de Senancour (born November 16, 1770, in Paris – died January 10, 1846, in Saint-Cloud) was a French essayist and philosopher. He is best known for his novel Obermann, which is written as a series of letters.
Contents
The Early Life of Senancour
Senancour was often sick as a child. He started his schooling with a local priest near Ermenonville. Later, he went to the Collège de la Marche. His father, Claude-Laurent Pivert, held important government jobs. He wanted Senancour to become a priest.
To avoid a job he did not want, Senancour left France. With his mother's help, he went to Switzerland in 1789. On September 11, 1790, he married Marie-Françoise Daguet. They had two children. Their daughter, Eulalie (born 1791), later became a writer like her father. Their son, Florian-Julien (born 1793), joined the military.
Senancour's marriage was not happy. His wife did not want to live in the quiet Alpine mountains he loved. They settled in Fribourg.
Senancour's Return to France
Because Senancour was not in France when the French Revolution began, some thought he was against the new government. His name was put on a list of people who had left the country. He visited France secretly sometimes. He managed to save only a small part of his family's money.
In 1799, he published Rêveries sur la nature primitive de l'homme in Paris. This book had strong descriptions of nature. It showed he was an early writer in the romantic movement. His parents and his wife died before the year 1800.
Senancour was in Paris in 1801 when he started writing Obermann. He finished it in Switzerland two years later. The book was printed in 1804. This special book has always been popular with a certain group of readers. The next year, he wrote De l'amour. In this book, he questioned common social rules. During this time, he worked for the magazine Mercure de France. There, he met Louis-Sébastien Mercier and Charles Nodier.
Public Attention and Obermann
Senancour might have written without much notice. But a public lawyer accused him of speaking badly about religion. This happened because of his book Résumé de l'histoire des traditions morales et religieuses (1827). In it, he called Jesus a "youthful sage."
He was first found guilty and faced a fine and prison time. But these punishments were removed after an appeal. News about the case spread through newspapers. This made Senancour more famous. Many of his books were found again and printed. He updated and added to Obermann for a new edition in 1833.
Obermann was greatly inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Famous writers like Sainte-Beuve and George Sand edited and praised it. The book had a big impact in France and England.
Obermann is a series of letters. They are supposedly written by a lonely and sad person living in a quiet valley in the Jura mountains. The book is special because the main character does not just feel that things are pointless. Instead, he realizes he cannot be or do what he wishes.
Later Life and Legacy
Senancour had some older ideas about free-thinking. He did not agree with the return to Catholic traditions. He earned money only by writing. He had to do simple writing jobs after returning to France in 1803 until he died in Saint-Cloud. But some of the charm of Obermann can be found in his Libres Méditations d'un solitaire inconnu.
Important people like Thiers and Villemain helped Senancour. They got him money from King Louis Philippe. This allowed him to live comfortably in his last days. Senancour also wrote a funny play called Valombré (1807). Late in his life, he wrote another novel in letters called Isabelle (1833). He wrote his own tombstone message: "Eternité, sois mon asile" (Eternity, be my refuge).
English readers remember Senancour through two poems by Matthew Arnold. These poems are called Stanzas in Memory of the Author of Obermann and Obermann Once More.
Obermann has been translated into English three times. It was fully translated by A. E. Waite (1903) and J. Anthony Barnes (1910). Parts of it were translated by Jessie Peabody Frothingham (1901).
In Music
Between 1848 and 1854, Franz Liszt wrote a piano piece called Vallée d'Obermann. It is part of his suite Première année: Suisse from the work Années de pèlerinage. This music was inspired by Senancour's most famous novel.
Works
- (1792) Les Premiers Ages. Incertitudes humaines
- (1793) Sur les Générations actuelles, absurdités humaines
- (1795) Aldomen ou le bonheur dans l'obscurité
- (1799) Rêveries sur la nature primitive de l'homme
- (1804) Oberman (changed to Obermann in later editions)
- (1806) De l'amour
- (1807) Valombré
- (1814) Lettre d'un habitant des Vosges sur MM. Buonaparte, de Chateaubriand, Grégoire, Barruel
- (1815) De Napoléon
- (1815) Quatorze juillet 1815
- (1816) Observations critiques sur l'ouvrage intitulé "Génie du christianisme", suivies de réflexions sur les écrits de Monsieur de Bonald
- (1819) Libres Méditations d'un solitaire inconnu
- (1824) Résumé de l'histoire de la Chine
- (1825) Résumé de l'histoire des traditions morales et religieuses
- (1833) Petit vocabulaire de simple vérité
- (1833) Isabelle
See also
In Spanish: Étienne Pivert de Senancour para niños
