Brief biography of Prosper Merimee. Brief biography of Prosper Merimee the most important thing Biography of Prosper Merimee summary
The French writer and translator was born on September 28, 1803 in the capital of France. Prosper was the only son of wealthy parents. Merimee's parents were fond of painting. Often, writers and artists, philosophers and musicians gathered in the house of the future writer. The creative atmosphere inherent in such gatherings shaped the boy's tastes and interests. There were always pictures of famous painters before his eyes. Merimee enthusiastically read the books of the freethinkers of his time.
WITH young years Merimee spoke English and was fluent in Latin. Prosper's grandmother spent many years in England and even got married in this country. Young Englishmen often took painting lessons from Father Merimee.
The future writer deeply and emotionally perceived traditions folk poetry... Subsequently, he used folk motives in his work. At the age of 8, Merimee entered the Imperial Lyceum, and as an external student, and immediately into the seventh grade. After graduation educational institution Prosper, at the behest of his parents, began to master jurisprudence at the Sorbonne.
The father dreamed that his son would make a career as a lawyer. But Prosper himself was not particularly enthusiastic about such an idea. After completing his studies at the university, the young man was appointed to the post of secretary of one of the dignitaries of the July monarchy. Subsequently, he becomes an inspector of the historical monuments of his country. Acquaintance with the masterpieces of French architecture became a source of creative inspiration for Mérimée.
Merimee filled his life with creativity, leaving no place and time in it for creating a family. After the death of the writer, the details of his numerous love affairs were revealed. Merimee's correspondence, rich in vivid facts, revealed secrets that Prosper, for various reasons, did not reveal during his lifetime. The riotous adventures of the young Merimee could well have given him a bad name.
Merimee's path in literature
Merimee began his journey to a career as a writer with a hoax. He brought out the non-existent Spaniard Clara Gasul as the author of his collection of plays. Prosper's second publication was the book of Serbian folk songs... However, later it turned out that the author had never collected these texts in the north-west of the Balkans, but simply composed them himself. A skillful forgery misled Pushkin himself.
Then the historical drama "Jacqueria" was published. There was no longer a trace of a hoax in it. The book described the peasant uprising in all its unsightly details. And in the famous "Chronicle of the reign of Charles IX" Merimee unfolds before the reader realistic pictures of the struggle for power between clerics and feudal lords.
But the most famous story brought to the author is the short story "Carmen", which tells about the life of Spanish gypsies accustomed to freedom. Much later, beautiful and tragic story about the love of a Spaniard and a gypsy woman was supplemented with music and dancing, and then even filmed.
Merima traveled a lot in Europe. In his travels, the writer tried to notice the national traits of the inhabitants of different parts of the Old World, and then convey these features to his characters.
In the 60s, Merimee's health was undermined by an illness. He was tormented by attacks of suffocation, his legs refused. Heart pains became frequent. A progressive illness forced the writer to settle in Cannes in 1867. Here on September 23, 1870 life famous writer broke off.
The name of Prosper Mérimée in the minds of most readers is associated with the image of Carmen, the heroine of the opera of the same name. Meanwhile, he rightfully occupies a place in the gallery of the largest French writers, and the collection of his literary works alone exceeds twenty volumes. The author's life was bright and interesting, and therefore the biography of Prospero Merimee can be read as a fascinating novel.
Mérimée was born into the family of a successful French artist in 1803, and under the influence of his father with early years took up drawing. Obviously, the boy not only took over the skills from his father, but he himself had good abilities, since when the nine-year-old Prosper entered the Napoleonic Lyceum, the teachers paid attention to his talented watercolors.
After graduating from the Lyceum, Merimee entered the college of Henry IV, but then became interested in jurisprudence and in 1823 received the title of Licentiate of Law. At the same time, Merimee began to study literature. In 1820, together with his school friend J. Ampere, he translated into French the composition of the English poet J. McPherson "The Poem of Ossian", and the next year he wrote the first dramatic work - romantic drama Cromwell. Since then, Merime has developed a passion for studying the history of different times and peoples.
The gifted young man attracted the attention of the famous French writer Stendhal, with whom he then continued to be friends all his life. It was under the leadership of Stendhal that Merimee developed the unique style of his stories and short stories.
In the mid-twenties, Mérimée entered the circle of French romantic writers, met V. Hugo, E. Delacroix, F. List, as well as the Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, who lived most of his life in Paris.
It is curious that in his work, Merimee resorted to hoaxes several times, releasing collections of his works under the names of fictitious authors. So, in 1825, Merimee published a collection of plays "Theater of Clara Gasul". In each of the books, he even placed a portrait of a fictional author, for whom he himself posed for the artist in a costume suitable for the fiction. One of his works Mérimée even published under the assumed name of the Spanish actress. The writer needed this in order to carry in plays, as if dedicated to Spain, caustic allusions to contemporary French reality. This hoax was not immediately unraveled even by such an attentive reader as Stendhal.
Merimee's next book, the collection Guzla (Gusli in Russian), turned out to be an even more successful hoax. A deep study of the folklore of the South Slavic peoples allowed Merima to create songs so similar to authentic folklore that even A. Pushkin was convinced of their authenticity and transposed several ballads written by Merimee as folk. Another major writer, I. Goethe, also considered the songs published by Merimee to be genuine.
An interest in history soon became Mérimée's profession, since at the end of the twenties he was appointed chief inspector for the protection of historical monuments in France. On duty, the writer makes several trips to various regions of the country, during which he visits archaeological excavations, city archives and supervises the work of restorers. These trips provided the writer with material not only for several books of travel essays, but also for scientific works on the history of architecture and culture of the Middle Ages, as well as the history of Spain.
In their literary works Mérimée primarily refers to events in the history of France. The dramatic chronicle "Jacquerie", which tells about the peasant uprising of the XIV century, and the novel "Chronicle of the reign of Charles IX" Mérimée wrote in the form of memoirs, which were then very popular. Using the memories of one of the writers as a basis, Merimee successfully integrated the adventures of fictional characters into the historical background. This book laid the foundations for a new type of adventure genre. In a few years, Merimee's experience will brilliantly continue with another french writer- A. Dumas.
Prosper Merimee wrote not only major works - novels and chronicles. He was a wonderful master of the novella and knew how to make these small pieces of art a real art. In his short stories, there is always a sharp dramatic conflict, they are filled with action, graceful in language. Merimee brilliantly builds the intrigue of each novel, the techniques he used later we will meet in the detective stories of Conan Doyle, and in the horror novel, and even in science fiction.
It is no coincidence that many of Merimee's short stories later became the basis for the works of composers and playwrights, and later for screenwriters. So, already in 1875, the French composer J. Bizet created the wonderful opera Carmen.
Throughout his life, Merimee was also interested in Russian literature and history. He not only knew Russian perfectly (he had a passion for learning languages since childhood), but also translated the works of Russian writers. In particular, Merima owns the first French translations of A. Pushkin's poems, as well as N. Gogol's comedy "The Inspector General" and I. Turgenev's stories.
At the end of his life, Merimee even wanted to write a novel based on a plot from Russian history, for which he collected materials about the uprising of Stepan Razin and the transformations of Peter I. The writer believed that without the scientific development of the history of a foreign country it would be impossible to write about it reliably.
The last few years of his life, Mérimée practically stopped writing altogether, becoming involved in political activities and was even elected senator of France. He later reflected his impressions of the behind-the-scenes intrigues in the highest spheres of French society in the play "Two Inheritances".
One of the last works of Merimee - the play "The First Steps of an Adventurer" - was a dramatized story of the adventures of Grigory Otrepiev. Based on the plot of A. Pushkin's drama "Boris Godunov", Merimee created a fascinating story about the adventures of an impostor in Russia.
Prosper Merimee- French writer and translator, one of the first novella masters in France.
Born in Paris September 28, 1803... Merimee's father was a chemical scientist and was seriously fond of painting. Prosper's mother was also a successful artist. The young man, who received his legal education in Paris, became the secretary of one of the ministers of the French government. Then, having received the post of chief inspector for the preservation of cultural and historical monuments of the country, he did a lot in this field. In 1853, Merimee was promoted to senator.
However, a career in Merimee's life played secondary role, the main thing for him was literary creativity.
His first work was the historical drama Cromwell, which won Stendhal's approval. The author himself did not like this work of his, which is why he did not publish it. When he was 22 years old, the first collection of dramatic plays, translated by him from Spanish, was published. His famous "Gusli" was published in 1827. He himself presented them as a collection of folk songs by an unknown bard. Goethe expressed doubts that this work belongs to folk art... Despite this, Merime's "Gusli" made a lot of noise in Europe.
In the late 1820s, the drama Jacqueria was published, as well as the novella Matteo Folcone. At this time, the writer collaborated with many French publications, but was burdened by life in big city... For this reason, in 1929 he went on a trip to Corsica, where he wrote the story "Colomba" and started a travel journal. A year later, he went to Spain, where he befriended the Comte de Teba, whose daughter later became Empress of France. Most famous work the novel "Carmen" (1845) became a writer, largely due to the successful staging of the opera of the same name.
Both in Carmen and in all subsequent works, Merimee created vivid, distinctive images. He made a significant contribution to historical research. So, he wrote the historical chronicle "Chronicle of the times of Charles IX". Also, he researched the history Ancient rome and Greece. The action of the last novel of the writer called "Lokis" took place in Lithuania. After his death, "Letters to a Stranger" and "Last Novels" were published.
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Short biography of Prosper Mérimée
Prosper Mérimée is a prominent 19th century French writer, novelist and translator. He is best known as a translator of Russian literature into French and the creator of the short story "Carmen", which formed the basis of the famous opera by J. Bizet. He was also a member of the Académie Française and compiler of the register of historic monuments. Merimee was born in Paris on September 28, 1803. His father was a chemist by trade and a painter in free time... The writer's mother was also seriously interested in painting. Merime received a law degree, after which he worked as the chief inspector of the country's historical monuments.
His first work was the historical drama Cromwell, which won Stendhal's approval. The author himself did not like this work of his, which is why he did not publish it. When he was 22 years old, the first collection of dramatic plays, translated by him from Spanish, was published. His famous "Gusli" was published in 1827. He himself presented them as a collection of folk songs by an unknown bard. Goethe expressed doubts that this work belongs to folk art. Despite this, Merime's "Gusli" made a lot of noise in Europe.
In the late 1820s, the drama Jacqueria was published, as well as the novella Matteo Folcone. At this time, the writer collaborated with many French publications, but was burdened by life in a big city. For this reason, in 1929 he went on a trip to Corsica, where he wrote the story "Colomba" and started a travel journal. A year later, he went to Spain, where he befriended the Comte de Teba, whose daughter later became Empress of France. The most famous work of the writer was the short story "Carmen" (1845), largely due to the successful staging of the opera of the same name.
Both in Carmen and in all subsequent works, Merimee created vivid, distinctive images. He made a significant contribution to historical research. So, he wrote the historical chronicle "Chronicle of the times of Charles IX". Also, he researched the history of Ancient Rome and Greece. The action of the last novel of the writer called "Lokis" took place in Lithuania. After his death, "Letters to a Stranger" and "Last Novels" were published. Prosper Merimee died in September 1870 in Cannes, where he was buried.
French literature
Prosper Merimee
Biography
Mrime, Prosper (1803-1870), French novelist and short story writer. Born September 28, 1803 in Paris. From his parents-artists inherited a typical for the 18th century. skepticism and fine artistic taste. The parental influence and example of Stendhal, with whom Mérimée was friendly and whose talent he admired, formed a style unusual for the heyday of romanticism - severely realistic, ironic and not without a share of cynicism. Merimee was preparing for the legal profession, while seriously studying languages, archeology and history. His first work was the book Teatro Clara Gasul (Le Thtre de Clara Gazul, 1825), issued for the creation of a certain Spanish poetess, whose plays were allegedly discovered and translated by Merimee. Another literary hoax followed - the "translation" of the Illyrian folklore of La Guzla. Both books were of great importance for the development of early romanticism. But the most significant contribution to French literature was made by the masterpieces of later times, including the Chronicle of the reign of Charles IX (La Chronique du rgne de Charles IX, 1829), the most reliable of all French historical narratives of the romantic era; the ruthlessly realistic story of the Corsican life of Mateo Falcone (1829); excellent descriptive novella The Capture of the Redoubt (L "Enlvement de la redoute, 1829); the indignant tale of the African slave trade by Tamango (Tamango, 1829); the example of the romantic mystification Venus of Illia (La Vnus d'Ille, 1837); the tale of the Corsican vendetta Colomba (Colomba, 1840), and finally Carmen (Carmen, 1845), the most famous French short story. All these works are permeated with deep pessimism, they are also characterized by a cult of feeling and decisive action, close attention to detail and cold dispassion. Merimee died in Cannes. September 23, 1870.
Prosper Mérimée is a famous French writer, novelist (1803−1870). Born Prosper Mérimée on September 28, 1803 in Paris, in a family of artists. From his parents he inherited skepticism and fine artistic taste, typical of the 18th century.
Mérimée graduated from a course in law in Paris and was appointed secretary of the Comte d'Artoux, one of the ministers of the monarchy, and later chief inspector of historical monuments in France. In this position, he strongly contributed to the preservation of the country's historical landmarks. Mérimée was preparing to become a lawyer, deeply studying foreign languages as well as archeology and history.Prosper Mérimée was appointed senator in 1853. In full confidence, he had a personal friendship with Napoleon III.
The first work of Prosper Mérimée was the historical drama Cromwell, which he wrote at the age of twenty. However, the drama never entered the press, since Merimee was not satisfied with this work. In 1825, the writer published several dramatic plays, combining them into a book: "Theater of Clara Gasul".
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