Lamartine

Name: Alphonse de Lamartine

ACHIEVEMENT: Major Romantic poet.

Born: October 21, 1790; Macon, France

Died: February 28, 1869 Paris (Aged 78)

Field & Discipline: Art; Literature; Politics; Poet; Government Minister

Language: French.

Father: Pierre de Lamartine (1750-1840, a Royalist and landowner who was imprisoned for a time during the French Revolution)

Mother: Francoise-Alix des Roys (1766-1829)

Siblings: Five sisters

Spouse: Maria Ann Birch

Children: One son who died in infancy. One daughter: Julia (d. 1832, aged 10)

Education: Privately, at home (1801-1803); Institut Puppier, Lyons (1803-1808); Belley Jesuit College, Savoy

Major Work: 

“Meditations Poetiques”

Life & Times:

1815 saw the fall of Napoleon and Lamartine had a brief period in Louis XVIII's bodyguard, escorting the king out of France during the Hundred Days war after Napoleon had escaped from Elba,  and in so doing, he identified himself with the Bourbons.  In consequence he stayed in Switzerland until June 1815, when Napoleon abdicated for second time.

In 1816, aged twenty-five, Lamartine went to Aix-les-Bains for his health and met Julie Charles, also at the spa. She presided over a literary and political salon in Paris and was the wife of Jacques Alexandre Cesar Charles, the inventor of the hydrogen balloon, who was permanent secretary of the Academy of Sciences and librarian of the French Academy. 

She and Lamartine immediately fell in love and began a passionate affair. Lamartine now found himself in the company of aristocratic people such as the Duchesse de Broglie, whose mother was [knew mother of] de Stael*

In February 1819, he attended the wedding of his sister Cesarine to the Comte Xavier de Vignet, where he met his future wife, Maria Ann Birch.  The following year saw not only his appointment as attaché to the French Embassy in Naples, but also the anonymous publication of “Meditations Poetiques”, twenty-four of Lamartine’s poems, in March 1820.  This was so successful that there were fourteen editions by the end of 1825.

On 6 June 1820, Lamartine and Maria Ann married in the Governor of Savoy's Catholic Chapel and again in the hospital chapel at Geneva, two days later, in a Protestant ceremony.   In January 1821, with the outbreak of civil war, the Lamartines left Naples, bound for Florence, where one month later, Maria Ann gave birth to their son.  Within six months, she fell pregnant with their daughter, born May 1822, named Julia, after Julie Charles.

In the summer of 1822, whilst on leave from his position as diplomat, Lamartine and his family visited London where he met Chateaubriand, then the French ambassador in London, who was less than welcoming. In the November, Lamartine’s son died in Paris and one month following, Chateaubriand now Minister of Foreign Affairs, put all diplomats on leave on half pay.

The grief-stricken Lamartine then wrote “Le Mort de Socrate” and other poems,  in 1823 published as “Nouvelles Meditations Poetiques”.  His further work, “Le Dernier Chant du Pelerinage d'Harold” (commemorating [commemorated death of] Byron's* death) was published.  In an attempt to please Charles X, who had recently been crowned, he wrote “Chant de Sacre” and on 29^th April 1825, Charles X granted him Legion of Honour, along with [a pal of] Hugo*.

 In July 1825 he became secretary at the French legation in Florence.  During his tenure,  he and his wife played host to many people including Victor Hugo, [a pal of] de Vigny* and [a pal of] Stendhal*.  Lamartine was elected to the French Academy in 1829 and in the same year, upon the death of his mother, he wrote “Le Tombeau d'une Mere” and “Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses” was published, however, by the end of 1830 he wanted to be much more actively involved in politics.  

During the next two years, the family travelled widely in the Middle East, Sardinia, Malta, Greece, Rhodes and Cyprus and during a visit to Jerusalem, their daughter Julia died, aged ten, inspiring him to write “Gethsemani,  ou La Mort de Julia”.  Later, Lamartine was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and became known, with his good looks and fluency, as one of the great orators within the Chamber. 

He published “Voyage en Orient”, an account of his travels, in 1835 and, the following year, published part of an epic poem that he had been working on, titled “Jocelyn.”  This temporarily resolved his financial problems and in May 1838, he published the earlier parts of this story, titled “La Chute d'un Ange”.

At the same time, in Parliament he also discussed his interest in railways, his native Burgundy being much affected by poor road and water systems.  Lamartine believed in progress and improved communications.  He questioned the legitimacy of the monarchy. 

He became more outspoken on the question of workers’ rights, to the extent that, in January 1839, he famously asked the Chamber of Deputies: "Is France bored?" and continued to say that the government ought to be doing in the social sphere what had been accomplished politically by the Revolution.

1841 saw his appointment as chairman of the committee formed to draft a bill on the revision of the copyright laws. In this report, he recommended successfully that the copyright laws should apply to literary works for a fifty-year period after the author's death.  Two years later, in 1843, Lamartine controversially announced that he was joining the left-wing opposition.

He remained with the opposition until the 1848 revolution, when on February 24^th a provisional government was formed after the collapse of the monarchy.  Lamartine became Foreign Minister.

He was also involved with [involved with] Hippolyte Carnot's* plan for an Ecole d'administration, outlining training for future state administrators.  Later, Lamartine was thrown out of office for allowing a radical mob to invade the Assembly, but was reinstated in July 1849.  He remained in office until 1851 and the return of the Bonapartists.

Lamartine, now in his sixties, lived in a villa just outside Paris, occasionally entertaining distinguished visitors who included [visited by] Dickens*.   Between 1851-53 he produced his eight volume “Histoire de la Restauration”, showing his increasing nostalgia for the Bourbon regime and attempting to discredit Napoleon and his legacy. 

In 1859, with debts of 1,900,000 francs his need to write became urgent.  Although the Emperor offered him a national donation of 100,000 francs a year, or a single payment of 2 million francs, Lamartine refused because he was determined to be independent from a government he didn’t approve of. 

He sank deeper into debt and despair when, after the death of his wife in 1863, the British authorities blocked the transfer of his wife’s inheritance to France.  He died in bed at his house in Paris.

[state funeral offered by] Napoleon III* offered a state funeral which his niece, Valentine Cessiat, declined following her uncle’s wishes.  His coffin was taken by train to Macon and he was buried at Saint-Point beside his mother, daughter and wife, attended by [funeral attended by] Alexander Dumas Pere* and representatives of the French Academy.

Extra Connections: [painted by] Cormon* painted him on a ceiling.

Knew [knew] De Musset*, [knew] Liszt*, [knew] Monkton Milnes* and [knew] Talleyrand*

He met Hans Christian [met] Andersen*

He was inspired by [inspired by] Joan of Arc*

[employed] Vidocq* worked for him

Assessment: A key figure in the French Romantic movement.

Oneliner: La Martine, politician, Romantic poet and lover.

Bibliography:

• Fortescue, William, Alphonse de Lamartine, a Political Biography, Croom Helm, London, 1983.