Lucien-Anatole Prévost-Paradol (8 August 1829 – 20 July 1870) was a French

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist.

Background

Prévost-Paradol was born in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, conceived through an irregular liaison between the opera singer Lucinde Paradol and the writer Léon Halévy. When Halévy later married Alexandrine Le Bas, his wife agreed to adopt the child, who was then brought up with their own children.

Education and works

Prévost-Paradol was educated at the College Bourbon and entered the

École Normale École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

. In 1855 he was appointed professor of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than F ...

Aix Aix or AIX may refer to: Computing * AIX, a line of IBM computer operating systems *An Alternate Index, for a Virtual Storage Access Method Key Sequenced Data Set * Athens Internet Exchange, a European Internet exchange point Places Belgi ...

. He held the post barely a year, resigning it to become a leader-writer on the ''Journal des débats''. He also wrote in the ''Courrier du dimanche'', and for a very short time in the ''Presse''. His chief works are ''Essais de politique et de littérature'' (three series, 1859–1866), and ''Essais sur les moralistes français'' (1864). He was, however, rather a journalist than a writer of books, and was one of the chief opponents of the empire on the side of moderate

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

. He underwent the usual difficulties of a journalist under that regime, and was once imprisoned. In 1865 he was elected to the Académie française.

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

referred to him in his novel ''The Growth of a Soul'':

Opposition and death

The accession of

Émile Ollivier Olivier Émile Ollivier (; 2 July 182520 August 1913) was a French statesman. Starting as an avid republican opposed to Emperor Napoleon III, he pushed the Emperor toward liberal reforms and in turn came increasingly into Napoleon's grip. He en ...

to power was fatal to Prévost-Paradol, who apparently believed in the possibility of a liberal empire, and consequently accepted the appointment of envoy to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. This was the signal for the most unmeasured attacks on him from the Republican Party. He had scarcely installed himself in his post before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War occurred. He shot himself at

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on 19 July 1870, and later died.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prevost-Paradol, Lucien Anatole Members of the Académie Française Writers from Paris Suicides by firearm in Washington, D.C. 1829 births 1870 deaths 1870s suicides Ambassadors of France to the United States 19th-century French journalists French male journalists French male writers French people of German-Jewish descent French male essayists 19th-century French male writers 19th-century French essayists