Charles-Claude Genest

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Charles-Claude Genest (born October 17, 1639 in Paris , † November 19, 1719 ibid) was a French Roman Catholic clergyman, commendatarian abbot , philosopher, playwright and member of the Académie française .

life and work

Genest, the son of an obstetrician, came to England in an adventurous way, was a tutor for French there and became a horse connoisseur through his employer. This competence helped him in France to a position with Philippe Mancini, Duke of Nevers, with whom he went to the Dutch War 1672–1673 . He wrote odes to the king about it. Back in France he changed to the clergy, went to Rome to be ordained priest, and on his return became Commendatabab of the Abbey of Saint-Wulmer in Samer and almsman of the Duchess of Orléans .

He wrote two tragedies, Zélonide (dedicated to the Duchess of Nevers, Diane-Gabrielle Damas de Thianges) and the very successful Pénélope (dedicated to the Duchess of Orléans). In 1698 he became a member of the Académie française (seat no. 39). It found its way into the literary court of the Duchess of Maine ( Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé ) in Sceaux . In 1711 he dedicated his likewise successful Old Testament tragedy Joseph to her .

Genest, who had a philosophical streak, published a presentation of Cartesian philosophy in verse in 1716 (with a dedication to the regent, Philippe II. De Bourbon, duc d'Orléans ). In it, Barthold Heinrich Brockes discovered a soulmate, translated the text into German and published it in two languages ​​as volume 3 of his earthly pleasure in God (with a foreword by Johann Georg Hamann the Elder ).

Recently, Genest's main works have been the subject of literary historical research.

Works

Stage works

  • Zelonids. Princesse de division . Tragedy. Paris 1682. (dedicated to the Duchess of Nevers, Diane-Gabrielle Damas de Thianges, wife of Philippe Mancini, Duke of Nevers)
  • Pénélope ou le Retour d'Ulisse de la guerre de Troye pouvant servir de suite aux avantures de Télémaque. Tragedy. Paris 1684. The Hague 1702, 1738. Paris 1703, 1716, 1723, 1735, 1740, 1756, 1777, 1803, 1813, 1824. [1] (dedicated to Liselotte von der Pfalz, Duchess von Orléans)
  • Joseph. Tragédie tirée de l'Ecriture sainte . Paris 1711, 1731, 1743, 1755, 1788, 1817. (dedicated to Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon-Condé, Duchess of Maine)
    • (German) Joseph in Egypt. Berlin 1846.
    • (Italian) Il Giuseppe. Tragedia sacra del celebre signor abbate Genest. Rome 1720. Bologna 1755.
  • Les Voyageurs . Comédie en 5 acts. Utrecht 1736.

Other works

  • Poésies à la louange du roy . Paris 1674.
  • Dialogues between MM. Patru et d'Ablancourt sur les plaisirs . Paris 1701. Amsterdam 1714.
  • Dissertations on the poësie pastorale ou De l'idylle et de l'églogue. Paris 1707.
  • (with others) Les divertissemens de Seaux . Paris 1712.
  • Principes de philosophie ou preuves naturelles de l'existence de Dieu et de l'immortalité de l'âme . Paris 1716. (dedicated to the regent Philippe II. De Bourbon, duc d'Orléans)
    • (German) Barthold Heinrich Brockes: Earthly pleasure in God , consisting of physical and moral poems. Part 3. Germanized reason = sentences of the world = wisdom of the abbot Genest . Hamburg 1736. (bilingual edition, foreword by Johann Georg Hamann the Elder)

literature

  • Philippe Chométy: La théorie cartésienne des tourbillons dans Les Principes de philosophie (1716) de Charles-Claude Genest. In: Poésie et “science classique” . Eds. Laurence Tricoche-Rauline, Bruno Roche and Olivier Roux. Université de Saint-Etienne 2008, pp. 23–34.
  • Nicholas Dion: Le tissé dramaturgique des larmes. Pénélope (1684) de Charles-Claude Genest. In: Le langage des larmes aux siècles classiques . Eds. Adélaïde Cron and Cécile Lignereux. Champion, Paris 2007, pp. 159-172. [2]
  • Kurt Feeß: Charles Claude Genest. His life and works . Strasbourg 1912. De Gruyter, Berlin / Boston 2019.
  • Mireille Herr: Les tragédies bibliques au XVIIIe siècle . Champion, Paris 1988, pp. 59-78 (Joseph de l'abbé Charles-Claude Genest).
  • Éric Van der Schueren: La tragédie biblique à Sceaux. Le Joseph de Charles-Claude Genest (1706). In: La Duchesse du Maine (1676-1753). Une mécène à la croisée des arts et des siècles . Eds. Catherine Cessac, Manuel Couvreur and Fabrice Preyat. Brussels 2003, pp. 59–78.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Genest, Charles-Claude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French Roman Catholic clergyman, philosopher, playwright and member of the Académie française
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1639
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1719
Place of death Paris