Alexandre Beljame (November 26, 1842September 19, 1906) was a French writer.

Life

He was born at

Villiers-le-Bel Villiers-le-Bel is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, in the northern suburbs of Paris. It is located from the center of Paris. History A tragedy occurred in the town in the early evening of March 25, 1818, when a cracked 6, ...

Val-d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.< ...

. He spent part of his childhood in England and was a frequent visitor in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. His lectures on English literature at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, where a chair was created expressly for him, did much to promote the study of English in France. In 1905–1906 he was Clark lecturer on English literature at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. He died at

Domont Domont () is a commune in the Val-d'Oise department and Île-de-France region of France. It is twinned with the Leicestershire village of Shepshed. Domont station has rail connections to Persan, Luzarches, Sarcelles and Paris. Population Twi ...

(

) on September 19, 1906. His best known book was a masterly study of the conditions of literary life in England in the 18th century illustrated by the lives of

Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the pe ...

Addison Addison may refer to: Places Canada * Addison, Ontario United States *Addison, Alabama *Addison, Illinois *Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois which runs by Wrigley Field *Addison, Kentucky *Addison, Maine *Addison, Michigan *Addison, New York * ...

and

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. This book, ''Le Public et les hommes de lettres en Angleterre au XVIII' siècle'' (1881), was crowned by the

French Academy French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

on the appearance of the second edition in 1897. He was a good

Shakespearian William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

scholar, and his editions of ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cyp ...

'' and '' Julius Caesar'' also received an academic prize in 1902.

References

Attribution: * * Jean-Pierre Mouchon, "Alexandre Beljame" in "Dictionnaire bio-bibliographique des anglicistes et assimilés" (Marseilles, France, Terra Beata, 2010). 1842 births 1906 deaths People from Villiers-le-Bel Academics of the University of Cambridge University of Paris faculty 19th-century French historians French literary critics Shakespearean scholars French male dramatists and playwrights French male poets {{France-nonfiction-writer-stub