Ernest Fouinet (1799,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

– 1845,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a 19th-century French novelist and poet.

Biography

A member of the

Société Asiatique The Société Asiatique (, ) is a French learned society dedicated to the study of Asia. It was founded in 1822 with the mission of developing and diffusing knowledge of Asia. Its boundaries of geographic interest are broad, ranging from the Mag ...

of Paris, Fouinet, who was employed at the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, employed his bureaucratic leisure to translate into French, Arabic,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, Malay, etc. poetry and prose, as well as English masterpieces, and collaborated with the ''Cent-et-un'', ''la France littéraire'', the ''Annales romantiques'', the ''Keepsakes''. He then relaxed from his scholarly studies of

Oriental languages Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, ...

, by composing romantic short stories and books for youth.

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician. His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...

, who owes him translations from Arabic and Persian quoted in several notes of his '' Orientales'', paid hommage to his poetic talent, as well as

Sainte-Beuve Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic. Early life He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...

, by dedicating him one of his best ''Consolations''.

Works

*1824: ''Psara'', élégie épique, Paris, Delaunay. *1832: ''La Stréga'', Paris, Silvestre; reprint Geneva, Slatkine Reprints, 1973
available on Gallica
*1836: ''La Caravane des morts'', Paris, Masson and Duprey. *1836: ''Roch le corsaire'', Paris, Masson and Duprey. *1837: ''Allan ou le Jeune déporté à Botany-Bay'', Limoges, F. F. Ardant frères, prix Monthyon 1837
available on Gallica
*1838: ''L'Enfant de trois mères'', Paris, Desforges. *1838: ''Le Village sous les sables'', Paris, Masson and Duprey. *1839: ''L’Île des Cinq'' avec une préface sur les livres d’éducation, Paris, Desforges et Cie
available on Gallica
*1843: ''Églises et châteaux'', Paris, bureau du Journal des jeunes personnes. *1845: ''La Salle d’asile au bord de la mer'', Tours,

Alfred Mame Alfred-Henry-Armand Mame (b. at Tours, 17 August 1811; d. at Tours, 12 April 1893) was a French printer and publisher. Mame, publishers The founder of the Mame firm, Charles Mame, printed two newspapers at Angers in the last quarter of the eigh ...

and Cie
available on Gallica
*1844–1845: ''Les Douze nations'', Paris, D. Eymery. *1846: ''Le Maître d'école de Montigny'', Tours, Alfred Mame et Cie. *1846: ''Sœur Marie l’Égyptienne'', Nancy, Hinzelin. *1848: ''Donato et sa lanterne magique'', Paris et Limoges, M. Ardant. *1850: ''Mœurs, caractères et costumes'', Paris, Fayé. *1835: ''Le Robinson des glaces'', Paris, Eymery, 1835
available on Gallica
*1855: ''Les Anémones du roi Noman'', Tours, Alfred Mame et Cie
available on Gallica
*1842: ''Gerson ou le manuscrit aux enluminures'', Tours, Mame et Cie, prix Monthyon 1843
available on Gallica
*1859: ''Souvenirs de voyage : en Suisse, en Espagne, en Écosse, en Grèce, en Océanie, en Chine, en Perse, en Égypte, aux Antilles, dans l’Inde et dans l’Amérique; récits du Capitaine Kernoël'', Paris, Didier. *1879: ''Exil et Repentir'', Limoges, Ardant.

Sources

* Antoine Laporte, ''Bibliographie contemporaine : histoire littéraire du dix-neuvième siècle'', Paris F. Vieweg, 1888, (p. 18). * Ferdinand Natanael Staaff, ''La Littérature française depuis la formation de la langue jusqu'à nos jours : auteurs enlevés à la littérature depuis la Restauration (1830–1869)'', Paris, Didier et Cie, 1874, (p. 1045). * Pierre Larcher, ''Autour des Orientales''. Victor Hugo, Ernest Fouinet et la poésie arabe archaïque, ''Bulletin d'Études Orientales'', tome 62, 2013 nnée de tomaison (p. 99–123), Beyrouth, Institut Français du Proche-Orient, 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fouinet, Ernest 19th-century French poets French children's writers Translators to French English–French translators Arabic–French translators Translators from Persian Members of the Société Asiatique 1799 births Writers from Nantes 1845 deaths 19th-century French translators