Arthur Mugnier

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Arthur Mugnier (born November 27, 1853 in Lubersac , † March 1, 1944 in Paris ), known under the name Abbé Mugnier , was a Catholic clergyman, preacher and diary writer. He became known as a visitor and chronicler of the Paris salons from the fin de siècle to the 1930s.

Abbé Mugnier kept a diary from 1878 until the beginning of the war in 1939, in which he recorded his encounters with writers, artists, musicians, intellectuals, politicians and aristocrats who frequented the salons.

Life

Mugnier was born in 1853 at the Chateau de Luberzac in the Corrèze department , where his father directed the restoration of the castle. When he was seven years old, his father died and he was raised in humble circumstances by his mother. He was a student at the seminary in Nogent-le-Rotrou and studied theology at the Saint Sulpice seminary in Paris, where he was ordained a priest in 1877. In 1896 he became vicar at the church of Sainte Clotilde in the elegant Parisian district of Faubourg Saint-Germain . After differences with his bishop over a married priest, he was transferred to a branch of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph de Cluny ( Sœurs de Saint-Joseph de Cluny ) as an almsman ( Aumônier ) , where he lived until his death.

The Abbé Mugier was a frequent and welcome diner in the houses of the nobility in the Faubourg and a regular visitor to the many literary salons in Paris of his time, valued for his esprit. He kept a diary of his visits to the salons, where he draws portraits of the protagonists with a sharp pen. It is the same company, the same staff as in Proust's novel In Search of Lost Time . A second topic in the diary is problems within the church.

As has been handed down in many testimonies from contemporaries, the peasant-looking little man with large feet was clad in a shabby cassock and wore a clump of hair that stood up high over his forehead. He was well read and loved beautiful literature. Because of his gentleness, his warm-heartedness and his sincerity, he was loved by artists, writers and the aristocracy alike, as was he by the poor of the city, whom he supported as much as he could. Not only women of society preferred him as a confessor , but he also made confession for anyone who needed it , "at railway stations, on benches, in the street and in public parks".

Mugnier accompanied the conversion of Joris-Karl Huysmans and Marthe Bibesco to Catholicism. He remained on friendly terms with Princess Bibesco, and the correspondence between the two lasted for over 36 years.

Arthur Mugnier died almost completely blind at the old age of 91. Among his diaries in his estate were letters from Maurice Barrès , Henri Bergson , Madame de Caivallet , Jean Cocteau , François Mauriac , Robert de Montesquiou , Montherland and Marcel Proust .

estate

Arthur Mugnier's estate has been in the Archives nationales in Paris since 1964 .

Fonts (selection)

  • Journal . Texts établi by Marcel Billot, préface Ghislain de Diesbach. Le Mercure de France, Paris 1985, ISBN 978-2-7152-1352-4 .

literature

  • George D. Painter : Marcel Proust. A biography. Part 2. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1968, pp. 433-437.
  • Charles Chauvin: L'abbè Mugnier. L'aumônier des Lettres (1853-1944). Editions Médiaspaul, 2015, ISBN 978-2-7122-1348-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Information on Arthur Mugnier in the database of the Bibliothèque nationale de France .
  2. ↑ George D. Painter : Marcel Proust. A biography. Part 2. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1968, p. 433.
  3. ↑ Présentation produit: L'abbé Mugnier , on cdiscount.com, accessed on February 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ Quoted from George D. Painter : Marcel Proust. A biography. Part 2. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1968, p. 434.
personal data
SURNAME Mugnier, Arthur
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mugnier, Abbé
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catholic clergyman, preacher and diary writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 27, 1853
PLACE OF BIRTH Lubersac
DATE OF DEATH March 1, 1944
Place of death Paris