Jean-Marie-Bernard Clément

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Jean-Marie-Bernard Clément (born December 25, 1742 in Dijon , today Côte-d'Or , † February 3, 1812 in Paris ), called "Clément de Dijon", was a French poet, literary critic and translator.

Life

Jean-Marie-Bernard Clément taught philosophy for some time at the grammar school in his hometown Dijon and sympathized with Voltaire with whom he followed up a brief exchange of letters. After moving to Paris he was initially promoted by the writer Mably . Voltaire recommended him to La Harpe .

Without much success, since rejected by the Comedie francaise, he tried a comedy called Les Francs-maçons (The Freemasons) in 1774 and a tragedy called Médée (Medea) in 1779 . As an employee of the Journal de Monsieur , the Journal français and other magazines, he increasingly specialized in reviews, with the exaggeration of ancient and classic French authors increasingly violently attacked and reviled contemporary authors.

The Marquis Jean-François de Saint-Lambert , a contemporary author who was also attacked by Clément in this way, tried to put Clément journalistically cold through his connections. In response to a rude letter from Clément that followed, Saint-Lambert obtained a lettre de cachet against Clément for defamation, who imprisoned Clément for three days in Fort-l'Évêque . Clément owed his dismissal to Rousseau's intercession . The measure of Saint-Lambert only brought about a further radicalization of Clement and an increasing degree of awareness in the literary scene. Clément completely renounced the “philosophers” and joined Élie Catherine Fréron , the influential publisher of “L'année littéraire”. From 1773 to 1779, Clément attacked the “philosopher” Voltaire , who lived in Ferney near Geneva, in nine open letters (each in volume), the Lettres à M. de Voltaire , who then changed the name of his critic to “Inclément”. Fréron described the Lettres à M. de Voltaire as "a necessary antidote for the extremities of the false philosophy of our time". After the French Revolution , Clément stayed true to the genre and turned to criticism again. He devoted himself particularly vehemently to the author Ponce-Denis Écouchard-Lebrun .

In addition to his work as a critic, Clément tried himself as a satirist and translated The Liberated Jerusalem ( Torquato Tasso ) as well as a number of Cicero's works . In 1800 the translation of the Amours de Leucippe et de Clitophon by Achilleus Tatios followed .

Works

  • Observations critiques sur la nouvelle traduction en vers françois des Géorgiques de Virgile, et sur les poèmes des Saisons, de la Déclamation et de la Peinture. 1771.
  • Nouvelles observations critiques sur different sujets de littérature. 1772.
  • Lettres à M. de Voltaire. 9 letters on one volume each. 1773-1776.
  • Les Francs-maçons. Comedy. 1774.
  • Médée. EA Moutard, Paris, 1779, (3), IV-XVI, pp. 17-51.
  • De la Tragédie, pour servir de suite aux lettres à Voltaire. 1784.
  • Essais de critique sur la literature ancienne et modern. 1785.
  • Satires. 1786.
  • Projet de règlement sur la manière de tenir, à l'avenir, les soi-disant philosophes. 1786.
  • Petit dictionnaire de la cour et de la ville. 1788.
  • Tableau annuel de la littérature française. 5 years. from 1801.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clément, Jean-Marie-Bernard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clement de Dijon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French poet, literary critic and translator
DATE OF BIRTH December 25, 1742
PLACE OF BIRTH Dijon
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1812
Place of death Paris