Alphonse Karr

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr (24 November 1808 – 29 September 1890) was a French critic, journalist, and novelist.

Life

Karr was born in Paris to German pianist and composer Henri Karr (1784–1842), and after being educated at the Collège Bourbon, became a teacher there. Some of his novels, including his first, (1832), were autobiographical romances. A second novel, , followed next year, and was succeeded by many other popular works. His ''Vendredi soir'' (1835) and (1836) continued the vein of autobiographical romance with which he had made his first success. (1838) is one of his best stories, and his (1845) was deservedly popular. Others were (1848), and (1853), which had some influence in stimulating educational reform.

In 1855 he went to live in Nice, and gave his name to more than one new variety, notably the dahlia (''New International Encyclopedia''). Indeed, he practically founded the trade in cut flowers on the French Riviera. He was also devoted to fishing, and in (1853) and (1860) he made use of his experiences. His reminiscences, , were published in 1879–1880. He died at Saint-Raphaël, Var.

Family

Karr's brother Eugène was a talented engineer, and his niece Carme Karr was a writer, journalist and suffragist in La Roche-Mabile.

In April 1832, Karr had a shortlived relationship with actress Juliette Drouet. He allegedly borrowed all of her money and never paid it back. Karr was married to Louise Estelle Clémentine (née Renard de Mentule, born 9 December 1815)., vol. 135, ed. J. Claye, p. 49. They first met in late 1833, and married on 10 February 1834. Their first and only child, Thérèse, was born on 2 September 1834.Antoine Edmond Poinsot, , éd. Slatkine, 1887. By 1845, the couple had been separated for eight and a half years.

Writings

Novels

* (1832)
* (1833)
* (1835)
* (1836)
* (1838)
* (1845)
* (1848)
* (1853)
* (1853)
* (1855)
* (1860)
* (1866)
* (1879–80)

Journalism

In 1839, Karr became editor of ''Le Figaro'', to which he had been a constant contributor; and he also started a monthly journal, (''The Wasps''), of a keenly satirical tone, a publication which brought him the reputation of someone of "imperishable words" and biting wit. The first volumes of the journal, or magazine, were published from 1839-43. Karr attempted to revive the publication of ''Les Guêpes'' from 1852–55, an undertaking doomed to failure given the conditions of state censorship (under the regime of Napoleon III).

In 1848, he founded ''Le Journal''.

Memorable quotations

Karr is remembered for many of his statements, including the well-known aphorism ''plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose'' usually translated as ''"the more things change, the more they stay the same"''.

On the proposal to abolish capital punishment, he wrote: "" (i.e., "let the gentlemen who do the murders take the first step").

Legacy

Karr is one of the French artists and writers caricatured by Benjamin Roubaud in his drawing . Karr's head is drawn on the body of a wasp (alluding to ) and annotated "KARicature" (sic).

The short story "Les Willis" was the basis of Giacomo Puccini's opera (1884).

The bamboo species ''Bambusa multiplex Alphonse Karr'' was named in his honour.

Numerous roads have been named after him including:
* Rue Alphonse Karr in Paris
* Rue Alphonse Karr in Nice
* Place Alphonse Karr in Barentin
* Allée Alphonse Karr in Châlons-en-Champagne

The Collège Alphonse Karr is in the resort town of Saint-Raphaël on the Côte d'Azur.

References

External links

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*
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Alphonse Karr, LETTRE X
on YouTube. Text with audio (in French)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karr, Jean
1808 births
1890 deaths
Writers from Paris
19th-century French journalists
French male journalists
19th-century French novelists
French male novelists
19th-century French male writers
French literary critics
French satirists