Antoine Jay (20 October 1770, Guîtres – 9 April 1854, Courgeac) was a French writer, journalist, historian and politician.

Biography

At first an Oratorian at

Niort Niort (; Poitevin: ''Niàu''; oc, Niòrt; la, Novioritum) is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department, western France. It is the prefecture of Deux-Sèvres. The population of Niort is 58,707 (2017) and more than 177,000 people live in the ...

, he studied law at

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

then became a lawyer, then briefly worked as the administrator of the district of

Libourne Libourne (; oc, label= Gascon, Liborna ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Ém ...

. He travelled to Canada and the United States between 1795 and 1802 to escape the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, making friends with

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the natio ...

and teaching French to Lemuel Shaw. From 1803 to 1809, he was tutor to the sons of Joseph Fouché, before serving as a civil servant in the Ministry of Police, where he translated English newspapers. He contributed to the ''Journal des Voyages'' and ''L'Abeille'', participated in the foundation of '' Constitutionnel'' and '' La Minerve française'', and edited the ''

Journal de Paris The ''Journal de Paris'' (1777–1840) was the first daily French newspaper.(7 October 2014)The first French daily: Journal de Paris History of JournalismAndrews, ElizabethBetween Auteurs and Abonnés: Reading the Journal de Paris, 1787–1789 '' ...

''. He was an influential opposition journalist, who had supported the

and

First French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

(serving as a deputy in the Chambre of the Hundred Days and favouring the handover of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

to the Allies after Waterloo), opposing the Bourbon Restoration and finally seeing the triumph of his political ideal in the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

. He was mayor of Lagorce (1830–1848), conseiller général for the Gironde (1831–1837) and deputy for the Gironde (1815, 1831, 1834). He came to note for his ''Histoire du ministère du cardinal de Richelieu'' (1815) and his elogies of

Corneille Pierre Corneille (; 6 June 1606 – 1 October 1684) was a French tragedian. He is generally considered one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine. As a young man, he earned the valuable patronag ...

and Montaigne (published in his ''Tableau littéraire de la France pendant le XVIIIe siècle'' in 1818). He, Antoine-Vincent Arnault, Jacques de Norvins and

Étienne de Jouy Étienne, a French analog of Stephen or Steven, is a masculine given name. An archaic variant of the name, prevalent up to the mid-17th century, is Estienne. Étienne, Etienne, Ettiene or Ettienne may refer to: People Scientists and inventors ...

then collaborated on a ''Biographie nouvelle des contemporains'', for which he notably edited an article on Jean-Baptiste Boyer-Fonfrède which led to his imprisonment for a month in the prison Sainte-Pélagie. However, he is best known for his ''Conversion d'un romantique'' (1830), in which he staunchly opposes

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

, writing: His opposition to romanticism even went so far as voting against

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's election to the Académie française in 1841 (Jay had been elected to the Académie himself in 1832 and was "one of tsbest sleepers" according to a contemporaryArthur de Drosnay, ''Les Petits Mystères de l'Académie française. Révélations d'un envieux'', 1844, p. 33.).

Works

*''Le Glaneur, ou Essais de Nicolas Freeman'' (1812) *''Les États-Unis et l'Angleterre, ou Souvenirs et réflexions d'un citoyen américain'' ka William Lee ''essais traduits sur le manuscrit de l'auteur'' (1814) *''Histoire du ministère du cardinal de Richelieu'' (2 volumes, 1815) *''Voyages dans la partie septentrionale du

Brésil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's List of countries and dependencie ...

, depuis 1809 jusqu'en 1815, par Henri Koster, traduits de l'anglais'' (2 volumes, 1818) *''Recueil de pièces authentiques sur le captif de Sainte-Hélène, de mémoires et documents écrits ou dictés par l'empereur Napoleon ; suivis de lettres de MM. le grand-maréchal comte Bertrand, le comte Las Cases, le général baron Gourgaud, le général comte Montholon, les docteurs Warden, O'Meara et Autommarchi'' ic ''et plusieurs personnages de haute distinction'' (12 volumes, 1821–25) *''Salon d'

Horace Vernet Émile Jean-Horace Vernet (30 June 178917 January 1863), more commonly known as simply Horace Vernet, was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist subjects. Biography Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famous painter, who w ...

, analyse historique et pittoresque des 45 tableaux exposés chez lui en 1822'' (In collaboration with

, 1822) *''Les Hermites en prison, ou Consolations de Sainte-Pélagie'' (2 volumes in collaboration with Étienne de Jouy, 1823) *''Les Hermites en liberté, pour faire suite aux « Hermites en prison »'' (4 volumes in collaboration with Étienne de Jouy, 1824) *''La Conversion d'un romantique, manuscrit de Joseph Delorme, suivi de deux lettres sur la littérature du siècle et d'un essai sur l'éloquence politique en France'' (1830) *''Œuvres littéraires'' (4 volumes, 1831) *''La Piété filiale, ou Histoire de Pauline'' (1852) ;Online texts *''Tableau littéraire de la France pendant le XVIIIe siècle ; Éloge de Montaigne ; Précis historique sur la vie et les ouvrages de l'abbé Raynal'

*''Considérations sur l'état politique de l'Europe, sur celui de la France, sur la censure et les élections, ou Supplément aux « Documents historiques » de M. Kératry'

*''Conversion d'un romantique ; Essai sur l'éloquence politique en France'

*''Essais sur les mœurs ; Mélanges de littérature'

*''Nouvelles américaines ; Dialogue des morts ; Mélanges de littérature'

References

External links

*
Académie française
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jay, Antoine 1770 births 1854 deaths People from Gironde Politicians from Nouvelle-Aquitaine Members of the Chamber of Representatives (France) Members of the 1st Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy Members of the 3rd Chamber of Deputies of the July Monarchy French journalists 19th-century French historians 19th-century French writers French male writers Alumni of Oratorian schools Members of the Académie Française