Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve

Philip Brantingham (Independent Scholar - North America)

Ed. by Tim Unwin, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.05: French Writing and Culture: The Nineteenth-Century , 1800-1900.
Vol. editors: David Elwyn Evans (University of St Andrews), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Elisabeth Gerwin (University of Lethbridge), Nigel Harkness (University of Newcastle upon Tyne), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield), Jennifer Yee (University of Oxford)

Dates

Born 23 Dec 1804
Died 13 Oct 1869
Activity 1824-1869

Places

Born in France
Active in France

Activities

Primary

Journalist
Literary Critic/ Historian

Resources

Sainte-Beuve's Works

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Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve, one of the most respected critics in nineteenth century France as well as the rest of Europe, lived during a rich period of French literary activity, from the 1820s to the 1860s. He chronicled the literature of his time, as well as reviewed the classics of the past. He was the pre-eminent literary critic in France for over forty years.

He was born at Boulogne-sur-Mer on December 23, 1804, son of Charles François de Sainte-Beuve, a tax collector, and Augustine Coilliot, housewife, of part-English heritage. He was their only child. Tragedy entered early in Sainte-Beuve’s life, when his father died two months before his birth. Of this, he once said that his cradle “rested on a coffin” (Nicolson, 4). As the only son, he was now the titular head of the

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2141 words

Citation: Brantingham, Philip. "Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 September 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3911, accessed 22 November 2024.]