Louis Henri Boussenard facts for kids
Louis Henri Boussenard (born October 4, 1847, in Escrennes, Loiret, France – died September 11, 1910, in Orléans, France) was a French writer. He was famous for his exciting adventure novels. During his lifetime, people called him "the French Rider Haggard" because his stories were similar to Haggard's. Today, he is more well-known in Eastern Europe than in French-speaking countries. For example, 40 books of his collected works were published in Imperial Russia in 1911, showing how popular he was there.
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Who Was Louis Henri Boussenard?
Louis Henri Boussenard was a doctor by profession. He traveled a lot, especially in French colonies in Africa. He was called to serve in the army during the Franco-Prussian War. He surrendered to the Prussian soldiers during this war. This experience might have made him write stories with strong feelings of French pride. Sometimes, his books showed negative feelings towards British and American characters. This might be why his books were not translated much into English and are not very well-known in English-speaking countries.
His Adventures and Books
Boussenard's early books were full of funny and adventurous stories. These stories often followed a main character who went on many exciting journeys.
Early Stories
Some of his first popular books include:
- À travers Australie: Les dix millions de l'Opossum rouge (1879)
- Le tour du monde d'un gamin de Paris (1880)
- Les Robinsons de la Guyane (1882)
- Aventures périlleuses de trois Français au pays des diamants (1884), which was set in a secret cave under the Victoria Falls
- The Crusoes of Guyana; or, The White Tiger (1885)
- Les étrangleurs du Bengale (1901)
Later Works and Science Fiction
Boussenard's most famous book is Le Capitaine Casse-Cou (1901). This story took place during the Second Boer War. Another book, L'île en feu (1898), told a fictional story about Cuba's fight for independence.
Louis Henri Boussenard also tried to write like Jules Verne, who was famous for his science fiction. Boussenard wrote several science fiction novels himself. Two notable ones are Les secrets de monsieur Synthèse (1888) and Dix mille ans dans un bloc de glace (1890). Both of these books were translated into English in 2013 by Brian Stableford under the title Monsieur Synthesis ISBN: 978-1-61227-161-3.
