Sully Prudhomme
Sully Prudhomme [ syˈli pʀyˈdɔm ] (actually René François Armand Prudhomme ; born March 16, 1839 in Paris , † September 7, 1907 in Châtenay-Malabry ) was a French writer. He was the first ever Nobel Prize winner in literature . His best known poem is Le Vase brisé (1865).
Life
Born at number 34 on Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière in Paris , Prudhomme grew up in a bourgeois Catholic family and graduated from the Lycée Bonaparte, first in the natural science branch ( baccalauréat scientifique ) and then in the classical literary branch ( baccalauréat de lettres ). After a short stint at the up-and-coming Schneider company (the "French Krupp ") in Le Creusot , he gave up his intention to become an engineer and completed a law degree. After that he only worked for a short time as a lawyer in Paris.
Since he had been writing poetry for a long time, he remembered his inherited fortune in his mid-20s and devoted himself entirely to literature and philosophy, trying to combine the world of technology and science with that of spirit and beauty.
First Sully Prudhomme, as he now called himself as an author, wrote artfully chiseled poems in the rather cool manner of the Parnassians , which he published as usual in magazines and from time to time published in book form (see title below).
His participation in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/71 , which he ended with severe health problems, he processed in Impressions de la guerre (1872) and La France (1874).
After that he switched to a "poésie personnelle", that is, poems that pleasantly combined formal elegance with beautiful images, beautiful thoughts and beautiful feelings and which were appreciated by the readers of the time as well as the pleasant philosophical essays on many topics that he produced in large numbers.
In 1881 he found his recognition as a man of letters when he was accepted into the Académie française . He also found recognition as a moral authority in 1895 when he was appointed Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor ). When the first Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded in 1901, Sully Prudhomme received it.
Today it is practically unknown in France as well.
Sully Prudhomme found his final resting place on the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris .
Works
- Stances et poèmes (poems, 1865)
- Les épreuves (poems, 1866)
- Les solitudes (1869)
- Les destins (poems, 1872)
- La justice (poems, 1878)
- Croquis of Italy
- Les vaines tendresses (1875)
- Le prisme (poems, 1886)
- Le bonheur (poems, 1888)
- Testament poétique
- Journal intimate
- Réflexions sur l'art des vers (article, 1892)
- Épaves (poems, posthumously 1908)
In German translation
- Sully Prudhomme: Intimate Diary and Thoughts . Translated by Gerda Munk and Hans Roesch. Translation of the accompanying text by Anna Sannwald. With a bibliography of the works of S. Prudhommes. Zurich: Coron 1965 (= Nobel Prize for Literature, 1).
Web links
- Literature by and about Sully Prudhomme in the catalog of the German National Library
- Works by and about Sully Prudhomme at Open Library
- Catalog raisonné
- Information from the Nobel Foundation on the 1901 award ceremony for Sully Prudhomme (English)
- Short biography and list of works of the Académie française (French)
- Gert Pinkernell : Sully Prudhomme. In: Names, Titles and Dates of French Literature: A Chronological Repertory of Important Authors and Works from 842 to Circa 1960. 3rd Edition, 2014 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Sully Prudhomme
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Prudhomme, Sully |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Prudhomme, René François Armand |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French poet |
DATE OF BIRTH | March 16, 1839 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Paris |
DATE OF DEATH | September 7, 1907 |
Place of death | Châtenay-Malabry |